Mattel lashed out at Burberry over its new BRBY logo.

A little less than a month before the release of Greta Gerwig's new film, Barbie, the company producing the world's best-loved pink toy has decided to lash out at Burberry over the British brand's new logo, BRBY. Too similar to the name of the blonde doll, at a time when the latter is about to be relaunched in the cinema and on the catwalk, thanks to Barbie-core and all the hype that will ensue. When Burberry filed for registration with the US Patent and Trademark Office in July 2022, Mattel initially went to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, only making the notice of opposition official on 26 June. 

Right these days Margot Robbie, the star and producer of the film Barbie, is delighting fans of the subject with pink and fuchsia red carpet looks similar to the most popular ones of the iconic doll, while the marketing team of the film production and Mattel itself are working on targeted and ingenious launches, from an advertising point of view, such as the Malibu Barbie-themed Airbnb, the film's soundtrack, which features names of established contemporary artists such as Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, and even playing with memes. According to Mattel, the registration of the Burberry logo without vowels could damage Barbie's image as the doll's name has appeared for decades on clothing, accessories and footwear for toys as well as for children and adults.

In the appeal, Mattel recalls Barbie's established notoriety by pointing out that it is the «world's best-selling toy doll,» and that since 1990, «600 million Barbie dolls have been sold, one every two seconds» In addition to blaming Burberry for creating a logo that is phonetically and visually too similar to that of the toy, the American company accuses the British brand of having chosen it «intentionally,» so that consumers could associate Burberry products with the pop culture imagery of the Barbie brand. Mattel's efforts to defend the trademark are understandable: this is a very sensitive time for the doll, given the upcoming release of the film and all the new collections of children's and adult items that the toy company has planned for the coming months.