Why We Create: Faith, Beauty, Integrity

Why We Create: Faith, Beauty, Integrity

 

At The Little Catholic, our work begins with beauty, faith, and integrity.

We started this brand in 2018 to create jewelry that lifts hearts toward God, honors Catholic tradition, and sustains the hands that make it. Most of our jewelry is handmade in Southern California by local goldsmiths who are paid fair wages. This has always been our mission: to create meaningful, hand-crafted pieces that help women live their faith more deeply and share its beauty.

Lately, questions have surfaced online about trademarks and our intentions. We want to be clear about who we are and what we stand for.

We do not and will not try to “own” Catholic devotions

Devotional phrases such as Sacred Heart, Immaculate Heart, Rosary, Divine Mercy, and Stations of the Cross belong to the Church and to the faithful. They are not ours to claim.

We have never — and will never — take legal action against anyone for using devotional phrases. Any claims to the contrary are simply untrue.

For further context, Catholic universities, ministries, media outlets, and even missionary orders have long trademarked faith-inspired phrases — not to “own” the faith, but to protect their identity and prevent confusion. Examples include “Word on Fire,” “Tiny Saints,” “Theology of the Home,” “U.S. Catholic,” and the “The Little Catholic Box.” In that wider context, The Little Catholic’s approach is not unusual: it is about safeguarding original faith-inspired phrases and designs, not claiming prayer or devotion.

By contrast, it is often secular companies that hold registrations for actual Catholic devotional phrases themselves — such as “Holy Family” and “Sacred Heart.” These secular companies use them in ways that are purely commercial and disconnected from faith. That is a very different concern.

We also want to acknowledge our own learning

In our early years, we briefly explored names tied to devotions. We quickly realized those weren’t right for us. We listened, stepped back, and abandoned those filings years ago.

While we explored both original and devotional names early on, out of respect for devotion and our community, we stepped back from the latter and have since focused solely on what is original to us.

We do own our original designs 
There has been some confusion about The Little Catholic’s (TLC) jewelry and what it owns.

Here’s what’s true about our jewelry and designs:

1. Original Designs vs. Wholesale Items:
Contrary to claims that we do not create our own pieces — we proudly mold and handmake our own jewelry in Southern California with local goldsmiths.

• Our original designs are protected by U.S. design patents. 
• We also carry a separate line of pieces procured from wholesalers, but enforcement has always been limited to our original, patented designs.

2. Holy Family Hearts Jewelry:
There are also misunderstandings about our Holy Family Hearts collection in particular:

• The Phrase: Critics sometimes claim “Holy Family Hearts” is itself a devotion. It is not. The devotion is simply the “Holy Family.” Our trademark is only for the phrase “Holy Family Hearts.” We do not — and will not — prevent anyone from using “Holy Family,” which is a devotion.
• The Design: We acknowledge that the individual Sacred Hearts are devotions and do not claim ownership of them. What we hold is a U.S. design patent for our original three-dimensional arrangement of the three hearts together in the way we have designed. That patent — along with others we hold — confirms these are new, original works created by TLC.
• The Scope: A design patent is not granted lightly. It requires a rigorous review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that searches for “prior art” and confirms that the design is truly novel and non-obvious. The patent on Holy Family Hearts — along with several other TLC originals — is official recognition from the USPTO that these are new, original works created by TLC and not found anywhere in the public domain. We have never — and will never — stop anyone from using the sacred hearts individually themselves. Our rights extend only to the specific three-heart jewelry design and other original designs that we’ve uniquely created and patented.

3. Copyrights and Photography:
We also own copyrights for our photography and artwork. 

• We invest in professional photographers and styled shoots to present our products with a distinctive look. At times, those images have been copied and reused by other sellers, creating confusion about which products are truly ours and diluting our brand equity.
• Copyright protection helps ensure that when customers see our bespoke photography, they can trust the piece is authentic.

We protect our own creations

• Our business name, The Little Catholic
• Phrases we coined, like Holy Family Hearts, which are original faith-inspired phrases 
• Our original photography and artwork
• Original jewelry designs that have been reviewed and granted design patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office–the granting of a patent is proof that the pieces are truly novel and original
• Note: We briefly filed for ‘Mystical Rose’ while exploring collection names but ultimately chose a different name. ‘Mystical Rose’ is a Marian title, not a devotion, and we have no intention of enforcing or restricting its use. A filing alone does not equal enforcement.

These protections do not control prayer or belief. They help us remove unsafe counterfeits, protect customers from confusion, and ensure artisans can keep doing dignified work.

When our designs have been copied, we’ve acted to protect them. At first, that meant reaching out kindly, often repeatedly. When that didn’t work, we used more formal channels. But our intent has never been to harm any business or individual — only to safeguard the originality, safety, and livelihoods tied to our work.

Why it matters
Overseas counterfeiters have copied our original handmade jewelry and sold cheap imitations online for as little as $6 — all of them carrying chemical safety warnings. These are not our pieces. Customers who believed they were purchasing authentic jewelry were misled by these unsafe knockoffs. Our legal protections have allowed us to remove such listings from these overseas bulk-supply sites. Without those protections, Catholics could unknowingly purchase dangerous fakes, mistake them for ours, and lose trust in Catholic jewelry.

We also want to acknowledge a little-known act of stewardship. A few years ago, the phrase “Holy Heart” was already controlled under U.S. trademark law (U.S. Reg. No. 5897271) by a non-Catholic party outside of the United States. That meant Catholic artists here in the U.S. could not freely use the phrase without risk of legal action. We chose to spend our own resources to challenge that registration — and won. The mark was canceled. Afterward, we abandoned our own application so the phrase would remain free for everyone to use. 

Protecting the community’s freedom to honor devotion mattered more than keeping the phrase for ourselves.

Our promise remains simple

• We create original, faith-inspired designs that reflect the beauty that led our founder — a single mother and Catholic convert — into the Church.
• We treat artisans with fairness and respect.
• We donate to nonprofits and Catholic schools to further their missions.
• We partner with skilled goldsmiths in Southern California, paying fair, livable wages for their molding of our original jewelry.
• We employ and support those whose livelihoods depend on TLC.
• We protect the integrity of our work so Catholics can trust what they buy and wear.
• We honor and give back to the Catholic community we serve through openness and reciprocity.

Catholic teaching reminds us that the fruits of one’s labor deserve protection — not so they can be hoarded, but so they can serve the common good. For us, that means guarding the creativity entrusted to us so it uplifts the faithful, sustains dignified work, and ensures Catholics can purchase jewelry that is safe, authentic, and made with integrity.

We are not here to claim the Church’s prayers or devotions. We are here to serve through beauty and craftsmanship. Our focus will remain on creating with transparency and faithfulness — and on serving the Catholic community with integrity.

We are proud to be part of a small-business community of makers and believers, sustaining livelihoods, collaborating with nonprofits and schools, and giving back so that beauty can draw more souls to Christ. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas, we welcome you to reach out to us directly at hi@thelittlecatholic.com — because this work has always been rooted in openness, a spirit of reciprocity, and trust.