Atlanta Woman Fights to Keep Her Restaurant Name

In Atlanta, Georgia, a woman named Amanda Kinsey is facing opposition from Mattel, the company that owns Barbie. The issue? The name of her restaurant, "Amanda's BarBeeQue." Kinsey has been running her business since 2017 without any problems until she decided to trademark the name. That’s when things got complicated. Mattel filed a 45-page opposition, arguing that "BarBeeQue" is too similar to "Barbie" and could confuse customers. Kinsey isn't trying to steal Mattel's customers; she just wants to honor her grandmother with the name and spelling of "BarBeeQue." The pink color scheme in her brand is a tribute to breast cancer awareness after her grandmother's passing.

Kinsey is open to finding a solution together with Mattel. She believes that love and hate can’t coexist, so there must be a way to work this out. After all, she’s just trying to run her business and remember her grandmother in a special way. Mattel has stated they support entrepreneurs and don't want to disrupt Kinsey’s business. They explained that their trademark protects the Barbie brand from names with similar pronunciations, ensuring the brand can continue to be expressed in various ways.

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