A United States court has thrown out singer Mariah Carey's attempt to trademark herself as the "Queen of Christmas", after she failed to respond to another artist's opposition.

Carey's company, Lotion LLC, applied to patent the phrase, along with "Princess Christmas" and "QOC", signalling in 2021 she wanted to use it on a range of products from skin care to dog leashes.

Lotion LLC did not respond in time to the court, meaning the trademark wasn't granted.

In August, another singer, Elizabeth Chan — whose career is devoted exclusively to Christmas music — filed a formal declaration of opposition with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

"Christmas is big enough for more than one 'Queen'," the notice of opposition read, also accusing Carey of "shunning" the nickname in previous years.

It also named Chan as "pop music's only full-time Christmas singer songwriter".

Chan — who even named her daughter Noelle — told Variety she felt "very strongly" that the holiday should not be "monopolised".

"That's just not the right thing to do," she said.

"It's not just about the music business. She's trying to trademark this in every imaginable way — clothing, liquor products, masks, dog collars — it's all over the map.

"It's crazy. It would have that breadth of registration."

Another Christmas singer, Darlene Love, has also expressed her opposition to the lawsuit.

Carey released the track All I Want For Christmas on a 1994 Christmas album.

The song earned her a Recording Industry Association of America Diamond Award for the song in 2021, the first holiday single to do so.