The social media sensation who coined the popular term ‘very demure, very mindful’ is fighting back after several people attempted to trademark her phrase.
Chicago-based content creator Jools Lebron became a sensation overnight in early August when she posted a video of herself while showing her followers how they should present themselves in an office setting.
In a now-iconic tone, she described her look as ‘very demure’ and ‘very mindful,’ inspiring countless people across the world to use the phrase in their own posts, videos, and comments.
But after someone filed a trademark for the ‘very demure .. very mindful ..’ phrase on August 20, Jools posted a now-deleted TikTok sobbing over the development because it effectively killed any chance she had at selling merch with the phrase she coined in the first place.
But now, she’s saying she has the situation ‘handled’ in a much more upbeat video, claiming she has a team that’s presumably helping her with trademark-related matters.
‘Divas, on the trademark front I feel like I have to say something. We got it handled and I’m going to leave it at that,’ she said. ‘Mama got a team now.’
In a much more upbeat video, Jools Lebron, pictured, said she had the trademark situation ‘handled’
A person named Jefferson Bates had attempted to trademark the phrase before Julian Rosa also filed the same documents on ‘VERY DEMURE VERY MINDFUL’ a little over a week later on August 29.
The other known competitors for the rights to the coveted four words are two women who used slight variations of the phrase in their applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
A woman named Kassandra Pop sought ‘very demure very cutesy’ on August 24 for advertising services, and Almondia White filed for ‘always demure and very mindful’ on August 27 for hats and apparel.
‘This merch situation is really f**king me up,’ she said through her cries in her original update.
‘I’ve just invested so much money and time into this and I feel like I did it wrong.’
Jools, who now has over two million followers, was even asked to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live
As of September 5, a trademark application under the name Jools Lebron doesn’t yet exist.
The budding star, who is transgender, has said she is hoping to use any profit that she made off selling merchandise to ‘do so much for her family’ and ‘provide for her transition.’
Since her initial video took off, which now has over 51 million views, many celebrities have used her sound in TikToks of their own, including Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo, RuPaul, and Penn Badgely.
Jools, who now has over two million followers, was even asked to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
‘I feel like demure is like a mindset. I used to be crazy and out of control, and then I found some “demurity,”‘ she explained during her visit to the show. ‘And along with that came success.’
Jools also hinted that she had landed a deal with Netflix – as she shared a snap of herself standing outside the streaming service’s offices to TikTok.
After Jools shared her dismay about the trademark controversy, people flooded X, formerly Twitter, with support.
‘Sorry but if my money isn’t going directly to Jools [for the merch] then I’m not buying it. Jefferson Bates is such a loser for doing that to her,’ one person scathed.
‘About to boycott any merch I see with “Demure” on it since the proceeds aren’t going to Jools,’ someone else announced.
Since it appears that Jools hasn’t filed a trademark yet, at least under her own name (trademarks can be filed under company names), it remains unclear how exactly she’ll proceed.