Kanye West's crusade to corner the market for his Sunday Service gear just got shot down by the trademark gods .. of the U.S., anyway.

Ye applied for exclusive ownership of the mark, "Sunday Service," to slap it on clothing, dresses, footwear, headwear, jackets, loungewear, scarves, shirts, socks and tops. But, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shut him down because, basically ... someone's already working that corner!!!

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, someone else already registered the name -- and therefore Kanye using it would likely cause confusion in the marketplace.

We broke the story ... Kanye applied for the trademark in July. He'd started selling gear even before that, on Easter Sunday, to coincide with his performance at Coachella. He was hawking hoodies for $165 and $225 a pop and socks for $50.

Since then, his Sunday Service events have become a weekly attraction all over the country -- from Wyoming to Queens, NY -- attracting big crowds and celebs.

Fugees rapper Pras says when it comes to singing the n-word ... Gina Rodriguez has to earn a pass. Question is ... has she?

Pras hopped on "TMZ Live" Friday and let it be known that only certain Latin people who have contributed to the culture and those deeply embedded in the black community are given an honorary pass to say the word while singing a song.

As far as Gina's concerned ... Pras says he knows she's Latina but doesn't know her background well enough to speak on whether to issue her an honorary pass or not.

As we reported ... Gina got a lot of heat earlier this week for saying "n***a" while singing Lauryn Hill's verse on the Fugees' 1996 hit, "Ready or Not."

"Love & Hip Hop Miami" star Amara La Negra and Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman say Gina's earned the green light ... but seems the debate rages on.

The company Stan Lee founded is now battling Stan Lee's daughter and heir for control over his extremely valuable name, likeness and ideas.

Weird as it might sound ... Stan Lee Entertainment is suing Joan Celia Lee, claiming she's trying to cash in on her dad when she has no legal right to do so -- even though she's the sole heir to his fortune.

According to docs, the company Stan founded in 1998 -- as an animation publishing and entertainment company -- was assigned rights to his name, likeness, ideas, characters, stories, logos, etc. Basically, if Stan thought it ... SLE owns it ... according to the company.

However, SLE claims since the big cheese died in 2018, Joan's failed to protect SLE's legal hold on its right to Stan's intellectual property. Specifically, in the suit, SLE calls out POW! Entertainment for interloping ... trying to "loot SLE's intellectual property."

SLE is looking for Joan to play Captain America or Iron Man, and save the day. In its suit, the company says as trustee for the Lee Family Survivor's Trust ... Joan has a "duty to vindicate the rights" of SLE against villains like POW!

Stan's co. wants the court to force Joan to hold up her end of the bargain, and defend SLE against all evildoers -- or as the lawsuit puts it ... POW! and other entities trying to jack Stan's valuable ideas.

It also wants a declaration that SLE is the rightful owner of Stan's creations.

We've reached out Joan ... so far, no word back.

Deebo from "Friday" is giving his blessing to "Deebo" from the 49ers -- and TMZ Sports has the video!!

FYI, "Deebo" Samuel -- real name Tyshun -- got the nickname by his father, Galen, when he was kid as a tribute to the movie badass played by Tiny Lister.

The nickname stuck as he became a star WR at South Carolina -- and he REALLY blew up when he was selected by the 49ers in the 2nd round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

So, when we saw Lister out in L.A. the other day, we asked him if he felt the WR was worthy of the "Deebo" name.

"He gets the blessing man," Lister told us ... "He’s one of the starting wide receivers for the San Francisco 49ers. I'm a big fan of what they doing up there man!"

And, get this, Lister says he's been in talks with Ice Cube about a new "Friday" movie -- shooting could start as early as December -- and Lister wants Samuel to get a role!

"Hey, Ice Cube is gonna have to put Lil' Deebo in the movie with Big Deebo, okay?! And, let's rock it!"

Lister even has a message for Samuel -- check out the clip!!!

Jane Fonda's true to her word -- she said she's willing to get hauled off to jail every Friday in order to raise awareness about the climate crisis ... and she's walking that walk.

Jane and several other protesters -- including her "Grace and Frankie" costar and "Law & Order" legend, Sam Waterston -- just got arrested on the steps outside the U.S. Capitol building in D.C.

Like last week ... Fonda and a group of fellow climate change advocates were cuffed and put in a police van for their part in what she calls the "Fire Drill Fridays" initiative.

Jane's vowed to stage a demonstration outside the Capitol every Friday no matter what, after being inspired by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg and her weekly climate strikes across the globe.

It's unclear how many protesters were arrested this time -- last week, cops busted 16 people for unlawfully demonstrating -- but it seems like law enforcement better expect to make this part of their weekly routine.

We reached out to Jane's team ... no word back so far.

Farrah Abraham is helping Jen Harley get over her drama with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro by hitting a Vegas strip club for a pizza party with the dancers!!! Beats therapy, right?

Farrah and Jen were among the reality TV stars throwing cash around Crazy Horse 3 Thursday night for the clubs 10 year anniversary. When it was time to take a break from making it rain, they decided to chow down on some za -- cause everyone knows strip club food is always gourmet.

As if Jen feeding slices to a topless dancer wasn't random enough -- "90 Day Fiance" star Larissa Dos Santos Lima also got in on the action.

The whole scene -- pure decadent fun -- was a 180 from the one Jen was in earlier this month when Ronnie was arrested in L.A. after an alleged domestic violence incident with her.

She seemed to be putting in her rear view on Thursday night. As we reported, Jen and the 'Jersey Shore' star have told friends they're done for good this time ... and plan to do what's best for their daughter.

Lady Gaga came way too close to the edge of glory when she invited a fan onstage and leapt into his arms ... because he was not ready for the spotlight.

Gaga was in the middle of a performance for her Las Vegas residency show, 'Enigma,' Thursday night at Park MGM when she brought the fan, Jack, up to join her.

Jack looked like he didn't want to let go when Gaga gave him a hug, so she obliged and decided to jump up and wrap her legs around his waist ... and that turned out to be a very bad choice.

After a few little hops and twists, everyone's laughs and cheers turned to gasps as Jack took a misstep off the right side of the elevated stage and went tumbling off ... still holding on to the star of the show.

The 2 crashed hard, and it looked like Jack came down on top of Gaga. Here's another angle.

The good news ... everyone seemed to be uninjured after the nasty spill, and Gaga announced to the crowd that everything was okay. She added ... "The only thing that’s not okay is we need some stairs for the damn stage so I can get back up."

The singer also consoled Jack, who was apparently in tears after the fall, and invited him back up to sit with her as she played piano and performed "Million Reasons."

She told him ... "Could you promise me something? Could you forgive yourself right now for what just happened?" and added, "I think that’s amazing. We f****g love each other so much we fell off the damn stage."

What a pro. Her post-concert ice bath and hot bath was extra necessary after this one.

The man in this video is NOT the lion king, but for a few intense, near-death moments ... he thought he was while sitting nose-to-nose with a big cat in its zoo enclosure.

This insanity went down Thursday at a zoo in Delhi, India where a 28-year-old man hopped a fence and plopped himself down inches away from a male lion that seemed totally puzzled by the guy's presence.

It's impossible to look away from the scene -- the guy stood in front of the lion, then crouched down in front of it. Simba was almost motionless for several seconds, then suddenly lunged toward the guy and it looked like ... dinner was served!

What happened next is baffling -- for some reason the lion backs down! Moments later, zoo officials fired a tranquilizer at the animal, and managed to get the man out alive.

The showdown was even closer than the one that went down in the Bronx Zoo a few weeks back when a woman who was allegedly high on something taunted a lion. At least she had a moat between her and the cat.

Wanna know how Jennifer Lopez might look when she walks down the aisle to marry Alex Rodriguez? If her movie wardrobe's any indication ... the answer is stunning.

J Lo was in all her bridal glory Thursday in NYC shooting a movie called, what else ... "Marry Me." She was rocking a lavishly floral patterned wedding dress for the scene ... with all the accessories -- veil, train, jewelry and even a fancy shawl at one point.

As you know ... J Lo and A-Rod got engaged in March, and everyone's been dying to know when and where they plan to tie the knot. Still no word on that, but maybe the movie -- which comes out next year -- is giving Jen some ideas for her real-life gown.

If you're superstitious, chill out ... doesn't look like A-Rod saw her in the gown. He was busy at Yankee Stadium covering the Bronx Bombers' playoff game.

After she wrapped on the set, Jenny from the Block made it up to the game with her hair still curled from the scenes. BTW, she looked great, but her Yankees did NOT. They lost.

Savage burn from NHL superstar Mat Barzal on Thursday night ... 'cause after he took a hockey stick to the face TWICE -- he said his lips looked like Kylie Jenner's now!!!

The New York Islanders center was popped in the mouth a few times by a high stick in his game against the Winnipeg Jets ... and when he was interviewed about his swollen face at intermission, things took a hilarious turn.

"I feel like Kylie Jenner right now," 22-year-old Barzal said with a laugh ... "But, two high sticks there, it's unfortunate. That's hockey."

Of course, Kylie's fake lips are perhaps more famous than the entire league Barzal plays in ... but still -- BUUUURNNN!!!!

In case you care, Mat fought through the pain to dominate the Jets ... scoring two goals in the Islanders' 3-1 win.

As for his face ... we're pretty sure he's going to be just fine -- but he might not look so hot for a few days.

Maybe a KJ Lip Kit can help???

Jenelle Evans' ex-BF, Nathan Griffith, now has legal problems of his own ... because he just got arrested for DWI.

The "Teen Mom 2" star was busted Thursday around 5:30 PM in Cary, North Carolina. Nathan was arrested outside a grocery store where he was handcuffed and taken into custody.

The 32-year-old, whose home address is listed in South Carolina, posted $10k bond and was later released. He's due in court next month.

As you know very well by now ... Nathan and Jenelle were in a nasty custody dispute this summer over their 5-year-old son, Kaiser. Nathan even got into it with Jenelle's hubby, David Eason, and it wasn't pretty.