The Weeknd, legal name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is a Canadian songwriter, artist, and record producer, known for using his personal experiences to explore escapism, melancholia, and romance. He’s received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Latin Grammy Award, Academy Award nominations, two MTV Video Music Awards, six American Music Awards, 17 Juno Awards, and 20 Billboard Music Awards.
Tesfaye launched his career in 2009 with music anonymously released on YouTube. He later Co-Founded record label XO and released several mixtapes, Thursday, Echoes of Silence, and House of Balloons, gaining recognition for his mix of contemporary, hip-hop, and alt R&B. The mystery of his identity helped propel him to fame, too.
In 2012 Republic Records signed him, and he explored dark wave with released Trilogy and Kiss Land. Kiss Land (2013) debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200.
Tesfaye earned further notoriety with ”Earned it” a single used as the soundtrack for Fifty Shades of Grey. It also won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance.
Tesfaye earned commercial success with his second album, Beauty Behind the Madness. It became number-one and is one of the best-selling albums. With the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles ”Can’t feel my face” and ”The Hills” the album won the Grammy Award for Best Urban contemporary album. It was nominated for Album of the Year.
Starboy, his third studio album, saw commercial success and included the number-one single of the same name. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
Tesfaye explored dream pop and new wave with his fourth album, After Hours, featuring the chart record-setting Blinding Lights and number-one singles Save Your Tears and Heartless. My Dear Melancholy was released in 2018 and debuted as number one on the US Billboard 200.
Blinding Lights is the highest-charting song in Billboard history; Tesfaye was listed by Time magazine as one of the most influential people globally in 2020. He’s an advocate of racial equality and food security and was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of the World Food Programme in 2021.
Famous The Weeknd trademarks
Since 2013, Tesfaye has registered trademarks under his holding company, XO Trademarks LLC. Since he is a critically acclaimed, award-winning artist worth millions of dollars, it won’t surprise you to learn that he has quite a few trademarks. Let’s take a look at some of the most well-known trademarks.
The Weeknd
One of the most well-known trademarks is for his professional name ‘‘The Weeknd.’’ The wordmark was registered in 2013 following its first use in 2011. The trademark is registered in:
- Pre-recorded digital audio discs, audio tapes, music, and other sound recordings
- Videotapes, laser discs, pre-recorded digital video discs, and featuring music videos and documentaries
- Downloadable digital music provided online
- T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, socks, footwear, and other clothing for men, women, and children
- Entertainment, including live performances by a musical artist
Related: Trademarking a stage name
XO
This mark consists of an upper case “XO” with a heart in the top center of the design between the “X” and the “O” following its first use in 2011, it was registered in 2014 for use in:
- Pre-recorded digital audio discs, audio tapes, music, and other sound recordings
- Videotapes, laser discs, pre-recorded digital video discs, and featuring music videos and documentaries
- Pre-recorded DVDs, CDs, HD discs, audio and video files, including movie clips, trailers, interviews, films, and more
- Downloadable digital music provided online
- T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, socks, footwear, and other clothing for men, women, and children
- Entertainment, including live performances by a musical artist
Green Cat design mark
The design mark consists of a caricature of a cat sitting with a green and white striped face and tail and all anatomical features outlined in black. Following its first use in 2011, the trademark was registered in 2014 for:
- Videotapes, laser discs, pre-recorded digital video discs, and featuring music videos and documentaries
- Pre-recorded DVDs, CDs, HD discs, audio and video files
- Downloadable digital music provided online
- T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, socks, footwear, and other clothing for men, women, and children
- Pre-recorded digital audio discs, audio tapes, music, and other sound recordings
King of The Fall
King of the Fall is a song by the Weeknd, and it was released in 2014 as a promo single. It was officially released to promote the tour of the same name. The King of the Fall Tour was the third concert tour to support his studio album Kiss Land. The King of the Fall Tour was re-released by XO and Republic Records in 2020. The trademark was registered in 2017, following its first use in 2014. The trademark applies to:
- Hoodies, skirts, socks, briefs, hats, caps, visors, pants, dresses, and other clothing for men, women, and children
- Entertainment services, including live performances, musical-based internet entertainment, musical entertainment subscription services, and more
- Online news related to musical artists and their recordings, including providing commentary and information related to entertainment
Manic Phase
The “Manic Phase” wordmark is one of the most recent trademark applications submitted by The Weeknd. The USPTO hasn’t approved this trademark yet, but if approved, it’ll apply to:
- Entertainment services, including online video games
- Manuscript books; books in the field of entertainment, namely, books based on feature films and documentaries; books in the field of entertainment, namely, printed series of fictional screenplays; series of fiction books; series of non-fiction books in the fields of history, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, comic books, travel guides, travelogues, philosophy and insight, journalism and self-help and instruction
- Downloadable computer game software for personal computers and home video game consoles, downloadable electronic video game programs; downloadable computer and video game programs
- Motion picture film production, distribution, etc.
- The creation of movies and TV shows
- Multimedia distribution via an online computer network
- T-shirts, jackets, beanies, baseball hats, headwear, shorts, long sleeve shirts, and other clothing
- Pre-recorded DVDs, CDs, HD discs, audio and video files, including movie clips, trailers, interviews, films, and more
KOTF
The Weeknd also trademarked the acronym “KOTF”, which stands for “King of the Fall”. The trademark was registered in 2017 for use in:
- Clothing for men, women, and children, including shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts with and without hoods, sweaters, jackets, hats, caps, visors, headbands, bandanas, and more
- Entertainment services including live performances, musical-based internet entertainment, musical entertainment subscription services, and more
- Online news related to musical artists and their recordings, including providing commentary and information related to entertainment
- A wireless network or a communications network for the benefit of membership in an entertainment club
- Providing an internet website portal in the field of music
- Entertainment services, including providing podcasts in the field of music
- Providing information in the entertainment field, namely, music, music concerts, musical performances, and live concerts
Wrapping up
Abel Tesfaye is a unique artist with a big brand to protect. The Weeknd has already been sued, including by fellow creator Eymun Talasazan (with the Starboy trademark being called into question during a legal battle).
The trademark ‘Starboy’ remains disputed, but it’s heavily associated with The Weeknd and his brand. This has shown Tesfaye the value in trademarking unique branding, as he owns around 50 trademarks, including new applications, for new songs, TV projects, and more. While he doesn’t own the trademark, he also launched the Starboy comic in partnership with Marvel comics in 2018.
