Hot Girl Walk TTAB Cancellation + Trademarked Etsy Words

I got a listing flagged for a word I'd been using in my tags for over a year. Not even the title - the tags. The part of your listing that buyers don't even see.

Turns out the word was trademarked. So I spent the rest of that night going through every listing in my shop, googling word after word, slowly realizing how many everyday terms are actually owned by corporations. It was not a fun night.

The ones that got me

Onesies is trademarked by Gerber Childrenswear LLC. You're supposed to call them "infant bodysuits." I don't think any human being has ever actually said that out loud, but ok Gerber. They coined the word back in the 1980s so they do have a legitimate claim, and they enforce it hard. Sellers have been getting cease-and-desist letters over this one since at least 2007.

Velcro got me too. The Velcro company is so serious about protecting this that their lawyers recorded a music video - an actual song - begging people to stop saying "Velcro" and say "hook and loop fastener" instead. It's on YouTube and honestly kind of funny for a corporate legal video.

Then I found out about Bubble Wrap (Sealed Air Corporation), and that one stung because I'd been using it in my packaging descriptions. A seller I know got dinged by Sealed Air and switched to "plastic air packaging." Not as catchy but it works.

Styrofoam is owned by DuPont. It ended up with them after the whole Dow/DuPont merger and 2019 split. The "correct" term is polystyrene foam but good luck fitting that naturally into a product listing. I just use "foam packaging" now.

Band-Aid was the one that genuinely shocked me. I had no idea that was a brand name and not just... what you call the thing. It's owned by Kenvue now, which split off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023. The generic term is "adhesive bandage." Fun fact - in the UK they just call them "plasters," so this is mostly an American English problem.

ChapStick - owned by Suave Brands Company, who bought it from Haleon in 2024 for $430 million. Just say lip balm.

Crock-Pot is Newell Brands. Say slow cooker. Jacuzzi - say hot tub. Kleenex is Kimberly-Clark, say facial tissue. Q-tips are Unilever, say cotton swabs.

And one that catches a lot of fabric sellers off guard: Lycra is a brand name. Spandex is the generic term. So if you sew or sell textiles, "cotton lycra" in your listings needs to become "cotton spandex."

The cheat sheet

Bookmark this and check it before you list anything.

It gets weirder - phrases and shapes

Product names are one thing. But people are out there trademarking common phrases and going after sellers over them.

Boy Mom. The word "BOYMOM" (no space) is trademarked by BOYMOM LLC, and the owner is known in seller communities for being extremely aggressive about enforcement. The trademark covers clothing, drinkware, candles, and more. "Girl Mom," "Dog Mom," "Girl Dad," and "Boy Dad" have all had trademark filings too.

Hot Girl Walk has turned into one of the messiest trademark stories on Etsy - and off it. The phrase was filed by Hot Girl Walk LLC (founded by Amelia Lind) in April 2021 and registered in April 2023, covering athletic wear and physical fitness training.

The enforcement has been aggressive. One Etsy seller designed a sticker of a walking opossum and captioned it "Hot Girl Walk." Taken down. A sticker. Of an opossum. Walking. But it goes way beyond Etsy. The trademark holder went after community walking groups on Instagram - pages that were just organizing group walks for women. Hot Girl Walk Miami was sued in federal court and forced to rebrand to "On the Walk Miami." Hot Walk Indy got hit with a defamation and trademark lawsuit too, though that one was dropped.

Then in November 2025, Hot Girl Walk LLC sued Fashion Nova for selling "hot girl walk" clothing without authorization. A federal judge actually granted a temporary restraining order against Fashion Nova, blocking them from using the phrase. But Fashion Nova fired back with a counterclaim that the trademark was secured by fraud - arguing the owner never actually used the mark in commerce when they filed for it.

That case is still ongoing. And a lot of people are watching it because there's a real argument that "hot girl walk" has become generic - it's a TikTok trend with over a billion views, used by millions of people to describe a specific type of walk. If Fashion Nova's fraud or genericness arguments hold up, the trademark could get canceled. But until that actually happens, the registration is live and being enforced. Don't use it in your listings.

The smiley face. Yes, the basic yellow smiley face design is trademarked by The Smiley Company, which holds registrations in over 100 countries. They fought Walmart over it for almost a decade before settling in 2011. If you sell anything with a smiley face design on it, this is worth knowing about.

And then there are shapes. You don't even have to use a brand name to get in trouble.

One seller made a hand-drawn van print. No VW logo on it anywhere, they put a peace sign there instead. Still got taken down. Volkswagen has trademarked the shape of the VW Microbus - the rounded front, the split windshield, all of it. If your "retro van" or "hippy bus" illustration looks like a VW, the silhouette alone is enough.

Same deal with UGG. Former employees have shared that they were trained to never say "Uggs" - always "UGG boots" - because the company is terrified of the brand becoming a generic word for sheepskin boots. If you sell sheepskin boots, just call them sheepskin boots.

Some words actually escaped

Not every trademark lasts forever though. If a brand name gets used so broadly that people treat it as a generic word, the trademark can actually be canceled. It's called genericization, and it's happened more than you'd think.

Escalator used to be trademarked by Otis Elevator Co. They lost it in 1950 because everyone just started calling every moving staircase an escalator. Trampoline was a brand name once. Aspirin was Bayer's trademark but they lost it in the US after World War I (still trademarked in some other countries though). Linoleum, granola - both started as brand names.

This is exactly why Velcro made that video. They've watched other brands lose their trademarks to everyday language and they really, really don't want to be next.

Don't forget your tags

One thing I want to call out specifically because I learned this the hard way. A lot of sellers think "nobody sees my tags so it doesn't matter what I put in there."

It matters. Trademark holders and their automated tools scan everything - tags, titles, descriptions. Etsy's own systems flag trademarked terms in tags too. When you go through your listings, check all of it. Title, description, tags, image alt text if you've added any. If you want a deeper dive into what counts as infringement and how to describe products safely, our full trademark violations guide covers the whole landscape.

How to check before you list

Three free tools:

• USPTO Trademark Search for US trademarks. Search for any word and look for "LIVE" status. The interface got a revamp not that long ago but it's still a bit clunky.
• EUIPO eSearch plus if you sell to European customers.
• WIPO Global Brand Database for international searches.

Takes two minutes. Way less painful than dealing with a takedown. And for a full list organized by Etsy seller niche, check our database of 500+ trademarked brands.

Can you fight a bad trademark?

You actually can. The USPTO lets anyone file a petition through the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel a trademark they think was improperly granted. There's also a community called Trademark Watchdogs on Facebook where sellers pool money to hire trademark attorneys and challenge the worst offenders.

Is it worth it for one small seller? Probably not on your own. But knowing you have the option matters, especially when you see phrases like "boy mom" getting trademarked when they arguably shouldn't be.

What I do now

I check every word before I use it. Every single one. It's tedious and honestly kind of annoying, but it beats waking up to a listing removal. Go through your shop this weekend. You will probably find something.

Is the Hot Girl Walk trademark cancelled?

The Hot Girl Walk trademark is under active legal challenge. Fashion Nova filed a counterclaim arguing the trademark was secured by fraud, and there are arguments the phrase has become generic through TikTok use. But as of now, the registration is still live and being enforced. Until a court or the TTAB officially cancels it, don't use it in your listings.

Is Onesie trademarked?

Yes. "Onesie" and "Onesies" are trademarked by Gerber Childrenswear LLC. They've been enforcing it since at least 2007. Use "infant bodysuit" or "baby bodysuit" instead. It sounds weird but it keeps your listings safe.

How do I check if a word is trademarked before listing on Etsy?

Search the USPTO Trademark Search for US trademarks, EUIPO eSearch plus for EU trademarks, or the WIPO Global Brand Database for international marks. Look for "LIVE" status on any results. Takes about two minutes per word and is way less painful than a takedown notice. For a full list of commonly enforced trademarks by seller niche, check our database of 500+ trademarked brands.

Resources

Trademark Search Tools:

• USPTO Trademark Search (TESS)
• EUIPO eSearch plus
• WIPO Global Brand Database

Contest a Trademark:

• USPTO TTAB - Initiate a New Proceeding

Further Reading:

• Etsy Intellectual Property Policy
• Velcro's "Don't Say Velcro" Video

Worried you might have trademarked words hiding in your listings? Create a free account and use Listing Compliance Shield to scan your shop for potential trademark and policy issues before they become problems.