Make America Great Again Trademark Trump
Need more than proof Donald Trump is bringing his business savvy to the campaign trail? He has already trademarked his "Brand America Great Over again" slogan.
Yep, Ronald Reagan may have said it first, just Trump is the one asserting his commercial rights to the phrase.
Trump applied for a trademark for "Brand America Great Again" in Nov 2012 -- mere days afterwards the last presidential ballot.
Trademark applications typically take a long time to process. Trump only received the "Make America Peachy Again" trademark in July of this twelvemonth.
Hither'south where it gets interesting: The trademark is specifically for "political activeness committee services." In other words, it doesn't say anything about hats, T-shirts, etc.
Ever since Trump started sporting his cherry hat in early August with "Make America Great Again," information technology'south go a hot seller online. And non but on Trump's website.
Supporters can purchase the hat -- in numerous different colors -- for $25 direct from Trump's campaign merchandise website. Or they can get a ripoff version from thousands of other sellers for as petty every bit $4.99.
Related: Anything with Trump name is selling fast
Trump takes legal action against illegal sellers
Trump has had enough of the copycats. At present he's getting his lawyer involved.
Ane of his first targets is CafePress, a pop website where people tin print T-shirts, coffee mugs and other garb. The company received a "cease and desist" letter from Trump's lawyer at the terminate of September.
Trump's legal team made it very articulate there would be a lawsuit against CafePress unless the site stopped peddling "Make America Great Again" merchandise.
"This isn't almost money. This is virtually protecting one's brand and trademark," Trump's lawyer Alan Garten told CNNMoney.
CafePress hasn't issued an official response, merely it's telling that there used to be hundreds, if not thousands, of items available on CafePress with Trump'southward motto. Searching the site now for that slogan returns nothing with that exact phrase.
Trump has repeatedly stressed that he'due south a billionaire who is self-funding his campaign and doesn't demand outsider'due south coin. But he has as well made it articulate that he knows how to build a make. He's made a lot of money licensing the Trump name on everything from hotels to ties.
Now he's fix to do the same with "Brand America Slap-up Once again."
Related: Donald Trump'due south economic system vs. Jeb Bush's: Who wins
Trump applies for another trademark
To clear up whatever defoliation, Trump practical for another trademark on August 13. This one spells out that the trademark covers bumper sticks, T-shirts, tank tops, campaign buttons, caps and hats, baby clothing, blogs. The list goes on. It could take months, if non years, for that trademark to exist canonical.
In the meantime, legal experts say Trump may still have a valid case against CafePress and other sellers.
Paul Callan, CNN'due south legal analyst and a former media police force professor, says Trump's lawyers can likely build a solid case that America at present associates the phrase "Brand America Great Again" with Trump, like to the fashion people associate "Just Do Information technology" with Nike.
"In the public heed, [Trump] has a legitimate argument that the phrase has a commercial secondary significant," says Callan.
Related: How many jobs has Donald Trump created?
There are notwithstanding thousands of copycat hats and shirts
For now, Trump'southward lawyer says the entrada will "selectively" enforce trademark rights.
CafePress is hardly the only site with copycat Trump gear. There are over 200 items for sale with Trump's campaign slogan on Etsy, (ETSY) over 2,000 on Amazon (AMZN) and over 4,000 on eBay. (EBAY)
When asked for comment, an Etsy spokeswoman said the visitor "takes intellectual property and copyright concerns very seriously" and that the site "removes items when we accept proper notice." Amazon and eBay did non reply to requests for comment.
Trump isn't the showtime to trademark campaign materials. Obama's entrada applied for trademarks for the ascension dominicus logo, amidst others.
In this ballot cycle, Republican Ben Carson likewise sent a cease and desist alphabetic character to CafePress for alleged violation of trademark and copyright.
The visitor issued a response to Carson: "To borrow from a slogan that is much used in this campaign, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand how baseless these claims are."
Source: https://money.cnn.com/2015/10/08/investing/donald-trump-make-america-great-again-trademark/
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