Kanye West has been denied trademark rights to “Sunday Service.” According to TMZ, ‘Ye applied for the trademark back in July. His goal was to achieve exclusive ownership of the name to use it on clothing, footwear, headgear, jackets, loungewear, scarves, etc. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office denied his request because someone beat him to the punch. Per documents obtained by the outlet, someone has already registered the name “Sunday Service,” so Kanye was denied because his use of the phrase “would likely cause confusion in the marketplace.”
In other Kanye-related news, the denial of a trademark won’t stop the show. ‘Ye has taken his service to the Caribbean. TMZ reports that the rapper’s latest Sunday Service was held in Kingston, Jamaica on Friday (Oct. 18). The 2-hour service took place at Emancipation Park. A choir of at least 120 people accompanied Kanye, as he kicked off the service with the gospel record, “Price of Peace.” There was also a performance of Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock.” Kanye closed out the service with “Jesus Walks.”
Kanye and members of his choir wore City of Kingston shirts during the event. He also launched Jamaica-themed merchandise on his online shop. Ye, however, received a bit of flak on social media for allegedly profiting off of government logos without paying royalties. “So do we get paid royalties for all this Jamaica-themed merchandise bearing government logos and what not? Or don’t ask that either?” one person tweeted.
Last week, Kanye held his Sunday Service on a Saturday. The rapper made his way to Washington, D.C. and surprised Howard University with a service during their annual homecoming. Kim Kardashian, Pusha T and Terrence J were all on hand during the service, which was held on the university’s yard. Tickets were released for the service the night before and were sold out by 8 a.m. the following morning.