The Race for TRUMP Brands

Since Donald Trump was nominated to represent the Republicans in the presidential election, hundreds of trademarks containing his name have been filed, mainly in the United States. And of course, his election to the White House has in no way calmed the outburst of filings, quite the contrary. A real battle of supporters and protesters is being waged on the registers! Here is a collection of the most beautiful gems. Among the pro-Trump crowd are:

• the optimists, who already believed in it before the election: "WIN TRUMP WIN", "DON'T BE A CHUMP, VOTE FOR TRUMP", "YOU CAN'T SPELL TRIUMPH WITHOUT TRUMP", "PUMP FOR TRUMP"...
• the fanatics, who also believe in 2020: "DTRUMP 2020", "TRUMP HARDER 2020", "TRUMP PENCE 2020"...
• supporters: "ITALIANS4TRUMP", "IN TRUMP WE TRUST", "FIST BUMP FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP", "BIKERS FOR TRUMP"...

The anti Trump are sometimes in the most poetic. It says:

• the hardcore opponents: "TRUMPOCALYPSE", "IMPEACH TRUMP", "I AM THE ANTITRUMP", "ANTI-TRUMP BOX", "THE PEOPLE AGAINST DONALD TRUMP", "TRUMP RESISTANCE MOVEMENT"...
• the ironic ones: "THE GREAT WALL OF TRUMP", "I HAVE BEEN TWEETED BY TRUMP", "WHAT WOULD TRUMP DO?", "MR TRUMP, MEET AMERICA", "POST-TRUMP STRESS DISORDER"...
• the comics: "TRUMPHOBIA", "DUMP THE TRUMP", "TRUMP YOU!", "TRUMP DON'T SURF", "JUST TRUMP IT!"...
• the really angry ones : "TRUMP'S PACK OF LIES", "TRUMP TRASH", "COWARLDY LYIN' TRUMP"...

In between, there are also those who just want to take advantage of the situation: "TRUMPMOJI", "TALKING TRUMP DOLL", "TRUMP CHAMPAGNE", TRUMPSINGLES.COM"... It remains to be seen how many of these trademarks will pass the examination stage: indeed, in the United States, and contrary to France, the Trademark Office carries out a substantive examination. If there is already a prior trademark that is identical or similar to the one that has been filed, in the same sector of activity or in a similar field, the examiner must refuse the registration of the most recent one in order to preserve the monopoly of the first one. In France, it is up to the owner of the earlier trademark to monitor his trademark (the INPI does not warn of the filing of a similar later trademark), and above all to file an opposition to prevent its registration (the INPI does not have the power, outside of an opposition procedure, to refuse to register a trademark on the basis of the existence of a prior right). Of course, most of these trademarks have not been registered for products or services that are in any way related to construction, the core business of the Trump empire. But Mr. President has always been keen to protect his name against all odds, and especially, it must be said, for everything and anything. Just look at the number of products in his name sold by his company: perfumes, clothes, mineral water, furniture, mirrors, household linen... His brand is therefore naturally protected for a wide range of products and services. Apart from Trump's previous trademarks, these applications could also be refused by the American administration because of the infringement of a patronymic name. Indeed, in order to register a surname in the United States, it is necessary to have the written consent of the person who bears the name, or to demonstrate good faith (for example, one bears the name oneself). In this case, the bad faith of the applicants seems quite obvious. In short, there is little chance that these trademarks will ever manage to be registered, and so much the worse for the opportunists who saw in the most unlikely election of 2016 a juicy seam to exploit.