Word Mark Make America Great Again
Demand more proof Donald Trump is bringing his business savvy to the entrada trail? He has already trademarked his "Make America Corking Again" slogan.
Yes, Ronald Reagan may have said it offset, but Trump is the ane asserting his commercial rights to the phrase.
Trump applied for a trademark for "Brand America Great Again" in November 2012 -- mere days afterward the last presidential election.
Trademark applications typically take a long fourth dimension to process. Trump only received the "Brand America Corking Again" trademark in July of this year.
Here's where it gets interesting: The trademark is specifically for "political action committee services." In other words, it doesn't say anything near hats, T-shirts, etc.
Ever since Trump started sporting his red hat in early Baronial with "Make America Great Again," information technology'southward go a hot seller online. And not only on Trump'south website.
Supporters tin can buy the hat -- in numerous unlike colors -- for $25 direct from Trump's campaign trade website. Or they can get a ripoff version from thousands of other sellers for equally little as $iv.99.
Related: Anything with Trump name is selling fast
Trump takes legal activeness against illegal sellers
Trump has had enough of the copycats. Now he's getting his lawyer involved.
One of his beginning targets is CafePress, a pop website where people tin can impress T-shirts, java mugs and other garb. The visitor received a "stop and desist" letter from Trump's lawyer at the end of September.
Trump's legal team made it very clear there would exist a lawsuit against CafePress unless the site stopped peddling "Make America Great Again" merchandise.
"This isn't about money. This is nearly protecting i's brand and trademark," Trump's lawyer Alan Garten told CNNMoney.
CafePress hasn't issued an official response, but it's telling that there used to be hundreds, if non thousands, of items bachelor on CafePress with Trump'south motto. Searching the site now for that slogan returns nothing with that exact phrase.
Trump has repeatedly stressed that he's a billionaire who is self-funding his entrada and doesn't demand outsider's money. But he has also fabricated it clear that he knows how to build a make. He's made a lot of money licensing the Trump proper name on everything from hotels to ties.
Now he's ready to do the aforementioned with "Brand America Keen Again."
Related: Donald Trump'south economic system vs. Jeb Bush-league's: Who wins
Trump applies for another trademark
To clear up any confusion, Trump applied for another trademark on Baronial 13. This one spells out that the trademark covers bumper sticks, T-shirts, tank tops, entrada buttons, caps and hats, baby vesture, blogs. The list goes on. It could take months, if not years, for that trademark to be approved.
In the concurrently, legal experts say Trump may still have a valid case against CafePress and other sellers.
Paul Callan, CNN's legal analyst and a onetime media law professor, says Trump's lawyers can probable build a solid case that America now associates the phrase "Make America Great Again" with Trump, similar to the fashion people associate "Just Do It" with Nike.
"In the public mind, [Trump] has a legitimate argument that the phrase has a commercial secondary meaning," says Callan.
Related: How many jobs has Donald Trump created?
In that location are even so thousands of copycat hats and shirts
For now, Trump's lawyer says the campaign will "selectively" enforce trademark rights.
CafePress is inappreciably the only site with copycat Trump gear. In that location are over 200 items for auction 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 company "takes intellectual belongings and copyright concerns very seriously" and that the site "removes items when nosotros have proper find." Amazon and eBay did not reply to requests for annotate.
Trump isn't the get-go to trademark entrada materials. Obama's campaign practical for trademarks for the rising sun logo, among others.
In this election wheel, Republican Ben Carson besides sent a cease and desist alphabetic character to CafePress for alleged violation of trademark and copyright.
The company issued a response to Carson: "To borrow from a slogan that is much used in this campaign, information technology 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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