Will Ferrell, sitting up in his high-rise office, said “no” to Angel Reese’s Bayou Barbie trademark.

OK, not literally, but due to Mattel’s trademarks for the Barbie doll brand, the LSU basketball star can’t trademark her own nickname.

NIL website On3 reported on Wednesday that Reese’s trademark application was denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office back in November due to “likelihood of confusion.”

According to the publication, Reese’s legal team — including attorney Darren Heitner, who filed the request — decided not to submit further evidence bolstering the case for a Bayou Barbie trademark. The 90-day window to respond to the denied trademark has now expired and the case is closed.

LSU's Angel Reese was denied in a bid for a Black Barbie trademark.

LSU’s Angel Reese was denied in a bid for a Black Barbie trademark.
According to the legal filing, Reese, who won the Tigers’ first women’s basketball national championship last year, was hoping to sell merchandise that said “Bayou Barbie” on it. Her trademark request stated she wanted to use the name for “Clothing, namely, shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, socks, underwear, tank tops, shorts, pants, jeans, belts, hats, shoes, bathing suits, cover ups.”

The trademark that Barbie has also covers essentially the same items among its extensive list.

“We discussed internally and determined that it was in Angel’s best interest to not unnecessarily instigate Mattel,” Heitner said. “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 has used the nickname because of LSU’s proximity to the natural water features and her fun sense of style, including using eyelash extensions and painting her nails pink.

Ferrell plays the Mattel CEO in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, which took the nation by storm last year for its message about women empowerment. Several fans made memes of the movie’s poster inserting themselves or celebrities.

The LSU Tigers social media team but Reese on a poster with her Bayou Barbie nickname and the subtext, “This Barbie is a National Champion.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Angel Reese’s Bayou Barbie trademark bid denied

Terms/Privacy Policy
Privacy Dashboard
About Our Ads

The Canadian PressThe Canadian Press

Canada beats Venezuela in extra round of penalty kicks, reaches semifinals in 1st Copa America

Schuyler Dixon
·4 min read

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Canada hasn’t scored much on the way to the semifinals of its first Copa America.

Don’t look for apologies from American-born coach Jesse Marsch.

Ismaël Koné scored in the sixth round of the shootout right after a third save by Maxime Crépeau and Canada moved on with a victory over Venezuela on Friday night.

The Canadians won 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals, keeping Venezuela from advancing to the Copa America semifinals for the first time since 2011.

Just the fourth team to advance out of group play by scoring just one goal, Canada is moving on again following a 0-0 draw against Chile that sent it to the elimination round.

“People will talk about should we score more goals or whatever,” Marsch said. “We should score more goals. But those are two pretty strong performances against very good opponents. You can see that this team is building.”

Jacob Shaffelburg scored in the 13th minute for Canada before Salomón Rondón got the equalizer in the 64th minute for Venezuela.

The victory earned 48th-ranked Canada a rematch with Lionel Messi and Argentina, the world No. 1 and defending Copa America champion, on Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Argentina beat Canada 2-0 in a group play opener.

Each team scored three times in the five rounds of the shootout, forcing the extra session.

After Crépeau silenced the pro-Venezuelan crowd of 51,080 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys by stopping Jhonder Cádiz, Koné eased his shot past Rafael Romo for the win.

“I heard some of the guys saying afterward I should have had him shoot earlier because he’s got ice in his veins,” Marsch said of the 22-year-old. “They were right. Probably should have had him shoot earlier. But when we needed him, he stepped up.”

With 54th-ranked Venezuela trailing 1-0, Jon Aramburu sent a long pass from his own penalty box, leaving just Rondón and Moïse Bombito battling for the loose ball near midfield.

Just as Rondón gained possession, Crépeau realized he was too far out and sprinted toward his net. It was too late. Rondón’s lofted shot over the scrambling Crépeau bounced 2 yards in front of the net and in.

Shaffelburg scored on an assist from Jonathan David after David scored Canada’s previous goal in a 1-0 victory over Peru on a helper from Shaffelburg, who right-footed a pass from David between the right post and Romo.

After scoring, Schaffelburg held over his head the No. 17 jersey of Tajon Buchanan, who broke the tibia in his lower left leg in practice three days before the meeting with Venezuela.

Rondón had two early chances on headers turned away, and it wasn’t long after his goal that Shaffelburg took another dangerous shot from just inside the penalty box that Romo deflected away.

Before Rondón’s equalizer, Eduard Bello redirected a corner kick from across the toward the net, but the ball landed on top of the net after a leaping deflection from Crépeau.

Venezuela is in position to be a first-time qualifier for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A World Cup-high nine games will be at AT&T Stadium.

But La Vinotinto fell short in trying to reach the final four of Copa America for just the second time. Venezuela finished fourth 13 years ago.

“I think that we need to continue working and to set an objective for ourselves,” Venezuela coach Fernando Batista said through a translator. “This is a long process. We have a huge dream that we’re going for. All Venezuelans want to qualify for the World Cup, and the Copa America gave us the possibility of strengthening our squad.”

Not long after Rondón’s goal, Liam Millar got a shot past Romo, but it went wide right. Millar had Canada’s first miss of the shootout, sending a shot way over the crossbar right after Yangel Herrera was wide left for Venezuela.

The teams traded misses again in the fourth round of the shootout before a pair of makes set up the extra session.

“We were the better team,” Marsch said. “We deserved to win that match. The penalties, it’s most a flip of the coin. But we were the better team on the day.”

___

AP Copa America coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/copa-america

Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press

Terms/Privacy Policy
Privacy Dashboard
About Our Ads

The Canadian PressThe Canadian Press

NHRA great John Force moved out of neurological intensive care weeks after fiery, 300-mph crash

The Canadian Press
·1 min read

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — NHRA drag racing great John Force has been moved out of neurological intensive care after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a fiery, 300-mph crash at the Virginia Nationals last month.

The 75-year-old Force has been moved from neurological intensive care into acute neuro care at the hospital where he was transported by air ambulance on June 23, John Force Racing said Friday in a release. He suffered traumatic brain injury and other injuries, including a fractured sternum, in the crash during the first round of Funny Car eliminations.

Force’s car had a catastrophic engine failure at the finish line, with the vehicle going across the center line and slamming into the left concrete guard wall, then careening back across into the right wall.

The team’s statement said Force still has periods of confusion and will likely at some point move to a long-term facility specializing in TBI and associated symptoms. He has been able to speak and to walk with help from medical staff, but the release said “medical professionals emphasized once again that the journey ahead will be a long and difficult one.”

In 2007, at age 58, Force was seriously injured in a racing crash in Ennis, Texas. He has continued to race at the highest level, earning his second win of the season and record 157th NHRA victory in New Hampshire.