Beyoncé, Jay-Z Move to Trademark Baby Blue Ivy's Name

In wake of opportunists seeking to capitalize on daughter's famous moniker, parents file paperwork with patent office to get ownership of her name

Wondering what kind of parents Beyoncé and Jay-Z are? Helicopter? Free spirits? Disciplinarians? Try overprotective.

At least when it comes to ownership of daughter Blue Ivy's name.

Why? Well, the proud mom and dad hadn't even spent three weeks in their doting new roles before they saw fit to file paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office seeking to protect the good (and potentially lucrative) name of their baby girl.

Hey, if you like it, then you shoulda put a trademark on it.

According to the Washington Post, the Carter family filed for the trademark on Jan. 26 (Blue Ivy was born on Jan. 7) ostensibly reserving the moniker not for posterity, but for products—speculation has already begun that the power couple's motivation was business-related and that they may have a line of baby accoutrements in the offing.

Of course, it could just as easily be a way to simply protect their month-old daughter's name from the undoubted wave of opportunists who may try and coopt it on paraphernalia of their own. As well as those who already have.

True, they may have moved fast, but they certainly weren't the fastest: one fashion designer, Joseph Mbeh, submitted an application of his own to trademark "Blue Ivy Carter NYC" on Jan. 11—just four forward-thinking days after the birth—while another filed to reserve "Blue Ivy Carter Glory IV" on Jan. 20 to use on a perfume line.

Both were denied.

As for B and J's submission—filed by Knowles' BGK Trademark Holdings—a decision is pending, but essentially a done deal as parents (even non-famous ones) are allowed to trademark the names of their minor children.

So, what's in a name? Well in this case, quite a lot of paperwork.