A BookTok Original Picture: The Ethics of Trademarking
Allie Rose Co. and why you can’t just trademark anything
Substack: https://midnightopinion.substack.com/
Introduction
Imagine you’re a small business owner, you work hard to create a business and products for the girlies of BookTok. Like many other businesses, you print popular BookTok phrases, such as “Hot Girls Read,” or references to popular tropes on your products to appeal to the community. But what would happen if one day a fellow small business owner trademarked one of these popular phrases, essentially making a large section of your inventory unmarketable? Well, that was the shocking reality many small business owners woke up to the morning after Allie Mitrovich, owner of Allie Rose Co. decided to file a trademark for the popular phrase “Hot Girls Read.”
On the surface, this may be viewed as a small business protecting its brand and products. However, when you take a deeper look into the ethical and legal aspects of this trademarking drama, it begins to feel less like an act of brand security and more like an unnecessary business tactic to create scarcity, ensuring that Allie Rose Co. was the only business allowed to sell products with the phrase “Hot Girls Read.”
Who is Allie Rose Co.?
Allie Rose Co. is a small business founded by Allie Mitrovich in 2020 after Allie was sent home from college due to COVID (Allie Rose Co, 2026). During this time of uncertainty, Allie decided to put her free time to good use and started creating stickers (Allie Rose Co, 2026). Eventually, she went viral on TikTok after posting a sticker tutorial, and her business took off from there. She has amassed more than 230,000 followers on TikTok and has expanded her business to sell everything from book accessories to apparel, mostly targeting the BookTok community (Allie Rose Co, 2026).
The majority of the merchandise on her website uses popular BookTok phrases like “Hot Girls Read,” often paired with colourful basic patterns, and this is the source of controversy we find Allie and her small business in today.
The Issue
Last week, Allie took to her business’s Instagram page to share the news that she filed a trademark for the phrase “Hot Girls Read” in the categories of bookmarks, stickers, notebooks, notepads, sweatshirts and t-shirts (Roeloffs, 2026). She asked that all businesses “please remove those listings from ur site as soon as possible with love !!!!” (Roeloffs, 2026).
As expected, this was met with a great deal of criticism, with many followers of the BookTok space and small business owners taking to social media to share their disappointment and anger with this decision. Many accused Allie of being greedy and targeting her competitors.
Of course, all of this controversy led to Allie releasing a statement on her story. She attempted to explain her reasoning for the trademark, claiming that she was simply trying to “protect my products from others copying it” since it had allegedly happened in the past. She stated that this was common business practice, and it was not her intention to come after small businesses.
Not only did this follow-up lead to more backlash, but it also raised questions about Allie’s ethics and the legality of trademarking a commonly used phrase that you did not create. When you look deeper into the origin of “Hot Girls Read” paired with the ethical and legal aspects of the trademark, Allie’s statement starts to feel like a meaningless cover for more selfish and profit-driven intentions.
Origins of “Hot Girls Read”
As with many popular sayings, “Hot Girls Read” originated from a song. In 2019, Megan Thee Stallion released the song “Hot Girl Summer,” and this re-popularized the “Hot Girl” movement we see today. Social media ran with the term and created different iterations of it to fit different communities, like “Hot Girl Walk” or “Hot Girl Shit.” The massive BookTok community decided to jump on the trend and coined the term “Hot Girls Read.” It was popularized during COVID and has been consistently used in conversation and on merchandise since.
However, some users took the detective work into their own hands and found actually that this phrase was used as early as 2009, long before Megan Thee Stallion’s song, and before Allie started her business (Hockey, 2026)
Considering that this was a phrase re-popularized because of a trending song, it is safe to say that Allie Mitrovich did not create it. She, like many other businesses, simply hopped on a trend and marketed their products to a massive audience. This raises questions about why her business was different from the hundreds of others that print “Hot Girls Read” on their T-shirts and bookmarks. At the end of the day, you cannot simply see a widely used phrase and say “it’s mine now” when you had nothing to do with its creation.
​And this is only the tip of the BookTok iceberg, because beyond questions of ownership, the trademark also raises serious ethical concerns around competition, exclusivity, and the impact it could have on other small businesses operating within the same community.
Impact on Small Businesses
While one small business may feel the need to protect its designs and ideas from massive corporations known for copying small creators, this situation is entirely different. When a trademark disadvantages other small businesses, it stops feeling like protection and starts feeling like ownership and greed. It is not ethically or morally right to take a widely used phrase within the book community and attempt to claim it as your own.
When Allie made the decision to trademark “Hot Girls Read,” it seems as though she either failed to consider or simply did not care about the impact this would have on other small businesses. Many of them rely on popular phrases and trends to market their products, and this trademark puts many of them in a difficult position. They are now forced to deal with the fallout and financial burden of a large portion of their inventory suddenly becoming unmarketable.
As a small business owner, Allie should have a clear understanding of how devastating this could be for other creators. This is not simply a small financial loss; small businesses often have no investors or external financial support and are instead funded personally by the owner through savings or loans. As a result, having a large inventory of unmarketable merchandise can lead to a severe financial hit. This is the consequence that many small businesses in this space are now facing due to Allie’s trademark, while she benefits from being the only business permitted to use “Hot Girls Read” as a marketing tool.
Competition and Exclusivity
As a small business owner, trademarking designs and phrases, even if they are not originally yours, is a smart move as it creates this exclusivity, where your business becomes the only place consumers can buy a given product or design. This is a concept known as exclusivity marketing, where a company uses scarcity and limited access to drive consumer interest and spending (Ketiku, 2020).
​While Allie claims she filed this trademark to “protect” her designs, it’s hard to ignore how this move benefits her business. By trademarking “Hot Girls Read,” she is essentially making it illegal for other businesses to use the phrase, clearing the way for her business to be the only one selling products with this popular phrase to the very large book community. She is making this common saying exclusive to her brand, forcing consumers to buy from her business if they want “Hot Girls Read” on bookmarks, stickers, notebooks, notepads, sweatshirts, or t-shirts. This is essentially eliminating any competition she has in favour of her own financial gain.
​The financial motivation behind this trademark becomes clearer when you take a look at the Allie Rose Co. website and find that the designs she was fighting so hard to protect are nothing more than commonly used patterns and colour palettes. Gingham, stripes, and polka dots are all widely used by both small businesses and large corporations. Her graphic designs feature tomatoes, seashells, palm trees, and more basics that have been used by countless businesses.
​Instead of finding unique and original designs, Allie Rose Co. seems to follow all of the same trends that other small businesses do. They see the designs and colours that are trending and use those to their advantage. Many of their products simply feature the phrase “Hot Girls Read” printed in basic font over popular backgrounds. This makes their products feel less like deeply personal intellectual property and more like curated Pinterest designs repackaged and marketed to the book community.
​While she wants everyone to believe that her designs need to be protected, that becomes hard to believe when her decision carries such a large financial boost for her business. Paired with her commonly used designs and colour palettes, it becomes clear that exclusivity and profits were at the forefront of this decision, and the “protection” defence was simply a response to backlash.
​While the impact on small businesses and ethical concerns are at the center of most of the discussion, questions about how this is legally enforced also have a place in this controversy, as it points to this trademark being unenforceable.
Legal Aspect
Many legal professionals have weighed in on this controversy, with the majority of them agreeing that this trademark would not hold up legally, as it can be challenged
​Imani. Law or the Imani Sisters was one of the many trademark attorneys who took to TikTok to share their professional opinion on the trademark. One-half of the sisters posted a video explaining the process many lawyers go through when filing a trademark. She highlighted that when filing a trademark, they don’t simply look at the trademarks that were already filed; they search the internet to see how commonly that phrase is used. She went on to say that when you search “Hot Girls Read,” you see that this phrase has been popular online for years, which becomes a problem because it shows that there was prior use. And since Allie was not the first one to use “Hot Girls Read,” her registration would be vulnerable because someone who used the phrase before her could come back and challenge her trademark, essentially making the trademark legally weak.
​From the perspective of a legal professional, this whole trademark situation seems unnecessary. If it could easily be challenged by any business that used the phrase before Allie did, then it seems as though it doesn’t provide the legal protection she claimed she wanted. In the end, it seems like an expensive waste of time that has only damaged public perception of Allie and, by extension, her business.
Update: The Trademark Filing Is Withdrawn
With all of the controversy surrounding the situation, Allie released a statement on TikTok, where she shared that she has decided to cancel the trademark filing. She went on to apologize to the small businesses that were impacted by her actions and admitted that this filing was a business strategy. Allie ended her statement by saying that all proceeds from her “Hot Girls Read” merchandise will be donated to charity.
Despite the apology, many social media users were not convinced. The comment section of her video was flooded with criticism from people questioning why she wanted to trademark something that was not hers in the first place. While others argued that her decision to cancel the trademark filing stemmed from the backlash and potential harm to her business.
Allie’s statement suggests that the motivations behind filing the trademark may have been more profit-driven than focused on protecting her designs. While she was initially willing to move forward with the filing, she only appeared to reconsider after facing significant backlash that threatened her reputation and business.
​While the future of Allie Rose Co. is uncertain, this serves as a reminder to other small businesses. In a time where consumers are hyper-aware of ethics, morals, and transparency, it is important to think before you act. Make sure that you weigh the pros and cons before making a major decision.
If the reaction from BookTok has taught us anything, it’s that people care, and they do not forget. When you make a decision that appears to be for financial gain, it forces customers to question your motives, and it could end in a loss of public trust, which is hard to earn back.
Conclusion
What started as a controversy surrounding a trademark filing quickly raised questions about ethics and ownership when it comes to commonly used phrases. After looking into the impact this situation had on small businesses and the ethical and legal aspects, Allie’s claims about protecting her business and products became hard to believe. After looking at the larger picture, it becomes clear that the driving motivator behind the initial trademark filing was profits and ownership. All signs point to Allie wanting her business to be the only one benefiting from the popularity of the phrase “Hot Girls Read” within the book community.
​This situation highlighted how the actions of one business can massively impact the livelihood of others. Trademarking a common phrase that was not yours to begin with does not serve to protect your business, as previously discussed; it only serves to create scarcity of products with the “Hot Girls Read” slogan, driving consumers to your website while other small businesses are forced to deal with the financial fallout.
The pursuit of profits and popularity may seem like everything, but once you start abandoning morals and ethics to achieve your goals, it becomes a slippery slope that can put you in the same position Allie found herself in, where it seems that she has lost all public trust, which will have the complete opposite impact on her business that she intended when filing this trademark.
​Additionally, the trademark being abandoned not only shows the power BookTok has, but also the power of consumers. When they see something they do not agree with and push back on it, companies are forced to listen, or they risk losing their customer base. This is important to remember in an age where corporations are taking advantage of their consumers. It is important to continue to call out behaviour that is considered immoral, because consumers deserve better; they should not be expected to just stand by while business owners continue to abandon their morality in the pursuit of profits.
​Overall, this controversy serves as a lesson in business practice. Profits and growth should not be the only things on your mind when making major decisions such as trademarking a commonly used phrase. These decisions need time and careful consideration of the impacts they may have on a larger community. It also serves as a reminder that consumers are not willing to overlook mistakes. As business priorities matter, and when consumers see something they do not agree with, it can be detrimental to a business of any size.
Sources
Allie Rose Co. (2026). An Update on the Hot Girls Read Trademark
Hockey, M. (2026, June 5). Allie Rose Co & The “Hot Girls Read” Trademark Drama, Explained. Marie Claire. https://www.marieclaire.com.au/life/entertainment/allie-rose-co-hot-girls-read-trademark/
Imani Law. (2026). “Hot Girls Read” Trademark Thoughts. In TikTok
Ketiku, S. (2020, December 21). Exclusivity in Marketing Campaigns; How It All Works. Big Field Digital. https://bigfielddigital.com/exclusivity-in-marketing-campaigns-how-it-all-works/
Mitrovich, A. (2026). Allie Rose Co. Allie Rose Co. https://allieroseco.com/en-ca
Roeloffs, M. W. (2026, June 8). Business Owner Who Trademarked “Hot Girls Read” Backs Down After Controversy. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/06/08/hot-girls-read-trademark-sparks-intense-booktok-controversy/
