TikTok creator Jool Lebron popularized the viral phrase "very demure,Do Clothes Make the Woman?: Gender, Performance Theory and Lesbian Eroticism very mindful." But she isn't the person getting the trademark.
Jefferson Bates, a Washington State man who appears not to be very demure or mindful, filed to trademark the phrase. According to legal documents obtained by NBC News and TMZ, Bates filed the request but did not name Lebron in the application.
In a since-deleted video on TikTok, Lebron said she "dropped the ball" on not trademarking it sooner.
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"I’ve just invested so much money and time into this," Lebron said in a TikTok video that Pop Crave posted on X before Lebron deleted it. "And I feel like I did it wrong. I feel like I didn’t try hard enough. I wanted this to do so much for my family and provide for my transition, and I just feel like I dropped the ball. Like, I feel like I fucked up, and someone else has it now. I don’t even know what I could’ve done better because I didn’t have the resources."
SEE ALSO: 'Very mindful, very demure' creator Jools Lebron can finance her transition thanks to the trendHowever, whether or not the trademark application is approved, Lebron lives in an entirely different world today than before her phrase went viral. She now has over two million followers on TikTok and has skyrocketed to internet fame. Lebron has seen a lot of success from the viral phrase, including appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, creating videos with Verizon and Southwest Airlines, and earning enough money to help finance her transition.
Still, not having the trademark for the phrase "very demure, very mindful " could halt some of that influx of money. If the trademark application is approved, she won't be able to legally make and sell merchandise, for instance.
Not very demure. Not very mindful.