I only became aware of Jools Lebron, the “very demure, very mindful” TikToker last week, thanks to RuPaul featuring her on Jimmy Kimmel Live when Ru was guest-hosting. (Millennial here, with the social media savvy of a Boomer.) Like I said at the time, I thought Jools nailed her TV moment; she was funny, quick, and on brand. And Ru isn’t the only celeb who’s taking notice of Ms. Lebron, as J.Lo and none other than Snoopy have nodded to her in their socials. While Jools is not new to TikTok, the “demure” posts only began in early August. It’s crazy how much she’s taken off in just a month! But now there’s a hitch: someone else has filed to trademark “very demure, very mindful,” seemingly out of Jools’ hands. Jools was so distraught about it, she even posted a video where she described feeling like she messed up and “didn’t try hard enough.” You know what’s not very demure? Stealing someone else’s catchphrase…
Trans content creator Jools Lebron, who popularised the “very demure, very mindful” TikTok trend, was left in tears after someone else reportedly filed to trademark her viral phrase.
TMZ reported on 23 August that a person under the name of Jefferson Bates, from Washington, filed to trademark Lebron’s phrase, “very demure, very mindful”.
According to court documents obtained by the outlet, the trademark is intended for use in marketing, advertising, and promotion.
In a since-deleted TikTok video which saw the star crying, Lebron said that the situation was “really f***ing me up”, adding that she “invested so much money and time into this”.
The makeup mogul said in the 24 August clip: “I feel like I did it wrong, I feel like I didn’t try hard enough, and I just feel like I dropped the ball.
“I feel like I f***ed up, and someone else has it now,” she said of the trademark. “And I don’t even know what I could have done better because I didn’t have the resources.”
PinkNews has contacted a representative of Jools Lebron for a comment on the matter.
The TikTok star’s success began when she posted a selfie video on the platform earlier this month, satirically telling her followers how to act “mindful” and “cutesy” when going to work.
“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful. I don’t come to work with a green-cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work. You see how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job,” she said.
The TikToker popularised the phrase on the social media site, even catching the attention of Penn Badgley to Snoopy. After experiencing viral fame, Lebron previously announced that she now has the money to pay for her gender-affirming care.
“Hey, maybe you should make the videos. Because one day I was playing cashier and making videos on my break and now I’m flying across countries to host events and I’m gonna be able to finance the rest of my transition,” she said in a TikTok video. “I finally said it without crying.”
Oh honey, don’t beat yourself up so much! And I say that as someone who’s spent a lot of her life beating herself up. (But it’s always so much easier to tell someone else not to do it, funny that.) Jools has since resumed creating very demure, very mindful TikToks, so I’m hoping that means her mood has lifted. And she does have reason to be optimistic: from my one-hour online degree in US trademarking, I’ve learned that the first person to file is not necessarily the first person to be granted the trademark. Get this, kids, in America you can use a trademark before tending to the legal bits (the filing), and generally be granted first dibs. So, like squatter’s rights? In any event, I’d say Jools has a very strong case to make of having used the trademark in a demonstrably public way, ahead of anyone else. But just to be certain, I’d love to see one of her celebrity admirers hook Jools up with the resources to get proper representation. Please people, I’m invested now! Anyone who gives us the perfection of a video titled “How I come out of a weekend depression in a demure manner” needs to be protected AT ALL COSTS.
Jools LeBron, the creator who popularized “demure,” shares she’s unable to launch merch because her viral phrase was already trademarked:
“I wanted this to do so much for my family and provide for my transition and I just feel like I dropped the ball.” pic.twitter.com/FxTVHfb6Lo
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 24, 2024
F*ck people. That’s all I’ve got. Even if she get’s the TM, which I hope happens, groups like GOOP are already using it without crediting her.
The guy doesn’t own the trademark – he filed for it. And he probably won’t get it. Apparently this person has a history of attempting to trademark other people’s famous phrases, names, etc. And has failed every time. It’s really obnoxious that a white cis male has decided to essentially try to steal the work of a trans WOC. I hope someone offers her legal services to insure she gets the trademark herself. She can file for it and would probably win because she has proof of usage.
I came across Jools on Tik Tok right before she hit. I think she is so lovely. I really, really, hope a trademark lawyer reached out to her to help her pro bono. Or was connected by one of her newfound famous friends to assist with retaining one. If that is the reason she deleted that video. Her recent posts seemed a bit more hopeful.
You never know when something is going to go viral. And there are IP vultures that will just sit and wait for these moments to lock it up before the original creator. And basically, blackmail them to get it back. May the US Government do the right thing here.
As a gen x with the internet skills of a gen z, sigh – another influencer trademarked a different section of the phrase ‘demure/cutesy’ I think, for Jules. This way she can have some revenue while she fights her other trademark.
I’ve never seen anything take off like this. So I hope she wins everything.
I hope Kassandra Pop filed to help Jool’s she is the founder of Hive. But i haven’t seen anything saying she is squatting on it to transfer to Jools. But I am hopeful, if you are saying this.
I believe that she did a TikTok saying she contacted Jules and after the paperwork is complete she’ll be giving over that trademark. She intentionally bought it for Jules – is what she said.
Great news, thank you! I don’t see a trademark for Very demure, very mindful, very cutesy i hope Jools can expand on the trademarks.
and Jeff can go jump in the lake. Jools popularized it first
Yeah, I hope she files and gets the trademark rather than whoever the other person is.
I’ve been seeing it everywhere and am already kind of tired of it. By the time everyone finishes wrangling over a trademark, there’ll be a new catch phrase.
This. I’m not on tiktok. Only use SM for watching animal videos. But even I know, these trends have a very short shelf life. That may be the actual source of her distress. She knows she needed to ride the wave while she could, and now she’s missing it.
Agreed. I want her to get all the credit and all the available money from it, but I am already tired of the trend from other accounts. It’s EVERYWHERE.
🎯
She didn’t know that this was going to take off so she shouldn’t feel bad about not filing for a trademark. White people are always trying to steal the work of people of colour. Hopefully the guy won’t be able to get the trademark.
I saw her with RuPaul on Jimmy Kimmel. She was funny. But, very demure will only be funny for so long. It will be her talent, good advice and a manager, that will keep her career going. I wish her well.
God, I hate people. I looked up the trademark filings.
Demure was trademarked in 2023 so that is out.
VERY DEMURE VERY CUTESY pending application is under Kassandra Pop
VERY DEMURE .. VERY MINDFUL .. pending application is under Jeffrey A. Bates
I really, really hope they either withdraw or their application is rejected.
I am no trademark lawyer. But couldn’t she just throw some merch up while the trademark applications are pending? We are a 30 second attention span society now. What is hot now is going to be forgotten about in 3 months. Make that coin now girl!