LSU's Angel Reese Has 'Bayou Barbie' Trademark Filing Denied by USPTO

LSU star forward Angel Reese is one of the most recognizable women's basketball players in the nation, but she won't be able to profit off one of her nicknames anytime soon.

Per Pete Nakos of On3.com, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied Reese's request to trademark "Bayou Barbie" in November.

Nakos added that Reese's camp has decided to abandon the attempt to trademark the moniker after missing the 90-day deadline to submit arguments to support her case. Because no arguments were filed, the case is now considered "dead."

The USPTO stated in its filing denying the trademark that a likelihood of confusion was one of the reasons for the denial, as the trademark for Barbie is owned by the toy company Mattel.

"We discussed internally and determined that it was in Angel's best interest to not unnecessarily instigate Mattel," said IP and NIL attorney Darren Heitner, who filed the trademark paperwork on Reese's behalf. "While initially it seemed worthy to obtain the registration, Angel has pivoted away from selling Bayou Barbie merchandise. As such, the appropriate business decision was made to simply let the application abandon."

Reese was dubbed "Bayou Barbie" last season while she helped lead LSU to its first national championship and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA women's tournament. While she has a dominant and physical style of play, she wears eyelash extensions and long pink nails during games. Under NIL rules, she would've been able to monetize the trademark.

"She loves the color pink," Reese's agent Jeanine Ogbonnaya previously told Nakos. "She's always getting her hair and nails done for games. So that definitely plays a big part into it."

Despite losing out on the trademark, Reese remains one of the highest-earning college athletes from NIL deals. She announced a multi-year partnership with Reebok in October and she is signed on as an ambassador for the multicultural hair care brand Mielle Organics. She was also featured in the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.