Featured Image Credit: HBO/BBC
Topics: News, World News, Game of Thrones, Film and TV
Kit Roberts
A mom found herself in the middle of legal wrangling after trying to get a passport issued for her daughter.
Lucy from Southwest England had been applying for a passport for her daughter ahead of a family trip to Disneyland.
The trip would have been the family's first holiday together, but they ran into some complications when the passport office told them they couldn't issue a passport.
When Lucy applied there, the office responded that her daughter's name meant they would not be able to process the request.
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That's because Lucy's daughter was named after one of the main characters in hit HBO series Game of Thrones.
As a result, Lucy found herself consulting an attorney to make sure that her daughter Khaleesi would be able to secure a passport.
Speaking to the BBC, Lucy described how the incident had affected the family.
She said: "I was absolutely devastated, we were so looking forward to our first holiday together."
The passport was initially declined as they claimed that the name 'Khaleesi' was trademarked by Warner Brothers.
Lucy said: "It was the first I've heard of such a thing - I was astonished."
Fortunately the mom was able to resolve the problem after getting in touch with a solicitor.
After combing through the legalese around the matter, they found that while there was a trademark in place it was only for good and services, not people's names.
Lucy sent that to the passport office, who acquiesced but still told her she would need to contact Warner Brothers to confirm that her daughter would be able to use the name.
She said: "I didn't understand and felt frustrated. If she could get a birth certificate, would something not have been flagged up then?
"I never thought you could trademark a name."
Finally, Lucy heard from the passport office that they should be able to process the passport, and apologised for the confusion.
She said: "If I hadn't posted this on social media, nothing would have been done.
"I would have been stuck, not knowing what to do. People contacted me about similar experiences."
Lucy added: "I think there might be other people in this situation, that they may have had their passports declined recently because of something like this.
"Hopefully, they now know it can be resolved."
A spokesperson for the UK Home Office told the BBC: “We can confirm the application is being processed and apologise to the family for the delay.”