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Oprah Winfrey Sued For Trademark Infringement

According to court documents filed on July 28, 2011, in New Jersey, Oprah Winfrey is being sued for trademark infringement. She has been slapped with a lawsuit over her usage of the acronym OYP, otherwise known as “Own Your Power.” Simone Kelly-Brown and Own Your Power Communications, Inc., the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, claim the motivational communication services company invented the acronym and concept that people can “live their best life” if they believe that “anything you want in life is attainable,” and even secured their usage of the acronym by petitioning the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to obtain exclusive ownership of the term “Own Your Power.”

However, Harpo Studios, then began to use the registered letters to “identify Harpo [and] Oprah … as advocates for individuals to ‘live [their] best life’ through self-awareness and motivational communication, the same type as OYP services.”

The plaintiffs allege that they are seeking damages to reverse Winfrey and Harpo’s “brazenly unlawful disregard for the existence and use of [OTP's] trademark.”

“Under such circumstances,” the suit continues, “with [Winfrey and Harpo] being much larger, spending more money, having a wider reach, and an overlapping audience with the much smaller Company, particularly with one of the most influential women in the world at the helm … [OTP has] been irreparably harmed.”

A Harpo spokesperson issued the following statement regarding the suit: “Harpo has not been served and we have no information about what allegations are being made.” Consequently, we will have to wait and see how this develops.

We will keep you informed of any developments.

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