Mariah Carey breaks silence on THAT Queen of Christmas trademark battle – saying ‘last year wasn’t my most fun ever’ – after Elizabeth Chan blocked the star from exclusive use of the title

Mariah Carey has opened up about losing her “Queen of Christmas” trademark battle last year in a candid new interview.

The pop icon, 54, was memorably prevented from exclusively trademarking the title ‘Queen of Christmas’ by festive singer Elizabeth Chan in a historic win in November 2022.

All I Want For Christmas Is You singer Carey had filed to trademark the phrase in March 2021 – a move that infuriated festive singers Chan, 43, and Darlene Love, 82, with the former heading to court in an attempt to block Carey.

Speak with PeopleCarey, who famously kicks off the holidays by ‘thawing’ and warbling ‘It’s tiiiiiiime’ in honor of her festive hit, said: ‘Last year wasn’t my nicest version of Christmas ever, so… come on, or high water, we’re going to have fun.

Describing how she deals with stress, she said: “I would say it’s writing. It’s prayer. It’s just these little things that can take you from being in a really bad mood to being in a better place right away.

‘And just be very grateful for all the scenarios, all the moments that come our way. I don’t read anything written about me. That’s one of my coping mechanisms. It’s taking a bath.’

Last year, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled against Carey’s attempt to trademark “Queen of Christmas.” It also rejected and denied Carey’s simultaneous attempts to register the trademarks “Princess Christmas” and “QOC.”

The It’s Like That singer had has applied for the exclusive right to use the titles on everything from music to perfume, sunglasses and even coconut milk – forever and worldwide.

Chan said, “Christmas is a time of giving, not a time of taking, and it is wrong for an individual to try to own and monopolize a moniker like Queen of Christmas for the sake of vile materialism.

“As an independent artist and small business owner, my life’s work is to bring people together during the holidays, and so I was dubbed the Queen of Christmas.

“I wear that title as a badge of honor and with the full knowledge that it will be – and should be – awarded to others in the future.

“My goal in taking on this fight was to stand up against trademark bullying, not only to protect myself, but to protect future Queens of Christmas.”

Louis Tompros, who led the legal team representing Chan, said: “This was a classic case of trademark bullying. We are pleased with the win and glad we were able to help Elizabeth fight back against Carey’s overblown trademark filings.”

The filing, in which Carey requested to secure exclusive use of ‘Queen Of Christmas’ along with ‘QOC’, ‘Princess of Christmas’ and ‘Christmas Princess’, was made public on July 12.

It has become customary for Carey to promote her mid-1990s studio album, Merry Christmas, during the last two months of the year.

The lead single is ubiquitous around the holidays as fans push it back to the top of the charts year after year.

Her seemingly inextricable connection to the holiday has earned her the informal title of Queen of Christmas.

Last year, just days before the holiday, the chart had more than 81 million streams and had been downloaded about 14,800 times, according to Billboard.

When Elizabeth Chan was profiled by the New Yorker in 2018, they used the headline: “The Queen of Christmas,” and described them as “America’s most successful and perhaps only full-time singer-slash-composer of Christmas songs.”

If Carey had been If she had been successful in her trademark application, she could have sued someone for knitting and selling a Queen of Christmas sweater, or asked a radio station or any media outlet to stop calling someone else the Queen of Christmas.

The star would have been given the right to charge licensing fees and royalties from anyone who wanted to use Queen of Christmas for hundreds of categories of goods and services in perpetuity.

Mariah’s March 2021 filing, which was made public, defied her December 2021 claim that she believes the title “Queen of Christmas” should be bestowed on the Virgin Mary.

Speaking on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, Mariah insisted she never chose the festive name herself, explaining: ‘Those were different people, and I just want to humbly say that I don’t consider myself that way.

“I’m a person who loves Christmas and who happens to be blessed to write All I want For Christmas Is You. And many more Christmas songs. And let’s face it, you know, everyone’s faith is what it is. But for me, Mary is the Queen of Christmas.”

Mariah also revealed that her favorite Christmas song of all time is This Christmas by Donny Hathaway when she was asked which song she chose.

She said, ‘Oh, I could have picked one of mine, but that’s one of the best ever, the best ever!’

In August, Darlene Love asked on Facebook, “Is it true that the Mariah Carey trade marked ‘Queen of Christmas’?” What does that mean that I can’t use that title?

“David Letterman officially declared me Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ and at age 81, I’m not changing a thing.

‘I’ve been in the business for 52 years, I’ve earned it and I can still hit those notes! If Mariah has a problem, call David or my lawyer!!”

In addition to Chan and Love, there is also Brenda Lee who recorded several Christmas songs in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Her iconic 1958 recording of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 for the past three years in a row.