Lionel Richie has submitted an application to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to trademark the sound of his voice, a legal maneuver designed to shield his vocal identity from AI-generated replicas. The filing follows similar trademark claims by Taylor Swift and Matthew McConaughey.
The application seeks sound marks for four spoken-word snippets drawn from his catalog:
- “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?”
- “Say you, say me”
- “Easy like Sunday morning”
- “All night long”
Each submission describes “a man saying” the lyrics and lists intended uses that include entertainment information services, live performances, interviews, and associated websites.
Trademark firm Gerben Law has observed that registering a celebrity’s spoken voice “is a new use of trademark registration that has not been tested in court before.”
