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A mother in the U.K. was “absolutely devastated” to learn her daughter’s passport application was rejected because she was named after a Game of Thrones character.
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Lucy, 39, from Swindon in Wiltshire, told the BBC that the passport office initially refused the application for her six-year-old daughter, Khaleesi.
Officials told her that unless she received approval from Warner Bros., the studio that owns the name’s tradepark, the mom was out of luck.
“I was absolutely devastated, we were so looking forward to our first holiday together,” Lucy told the outlet of their mother-daughter vacation to Disneyland Paris.
“I had a letter come through from the passport office, saying her name is trademarked by Warner Brothers,” she said. “It was the first I’ve heard of such a thing — I was astonished.”
She continued: “I didn’t understand and felt frustrated. If she could get a birth certificate, would something not have been flagged up then?”
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She added: “I never thought you could trademark a name.”
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Turns out you can’t, according to legal advice Lucy received, telling her that the trademark is for goods and services and doesn’t apply to a person’s name.
The passport office reached out to Lucy to apologize for the error, though the mom believes it was only because she made the issue public.
“If I hadn’t posted this on social media, nothing would have been done,” she said. “I would have been stuck, not knowing what to do.”
Lucy also claimed she heard from others who also faced similar experiences.
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“I think there might be other people in this situation, that they may have had their passports declined recently because of something like this,” she said. “Hopefully, they now know it can be resolved.”
Lucy is now waiting for her daughter’s passport before she books their “dream” trip.
A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC: “We can confirm the application is being processed and apologize to the family for the delay.”
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