Summary: Newly-elected president Donald Trump has been fighting for trademark rights over his name in China for ten years to now be given the right to his name.
For ten years, Donald Trump has been battling Chinese courts over the ability to use his name in the country for specific services. Just days after his Presidential win, Trump also won his trademark fight with China.
Trump first applied to register his trademark in China so that he could provide real estate/agent services for residential and commercial properties. There are 53 registered trademarks under the Trump name by he only owns 21 on them. The trademarks are over items ranging from beauty salons to pet care to clothing. Some of the trademarks that he doesn’t own are for things like condoms, explosives, poker cards, and tennis rackets.
Trump’s attorney in China, Zhou Dandan of the Beijing-based Unitalen Law Office said that Trump is a household name in China, which may greatly affect the outcomes in other trademark problems in the future.
His application was originally rejected in 2009 because another person had registered for it just weeks before Trump filed his paperwork. The man’s name is Dong Wei. This practice is not unheard of. Apple in 2012 had to pay $60 million to a Chinese company in order to have the right to the iPad trademark in China.
Trump was given the right to certain services like installment and repair of air conditioners, heating systems, and escalators but could not offer services under his name for things related to “construction information”, otherwise services that real estate agents provide. Trump spent the next several years appealing the application results in several courts.
He ultimately filed a new application which was approved, invalidating Dong Wei’s claim. If no one objects within 90 days, the new decision will be permanent.
Do you think Trump won the fight only because he is the new President of the United States? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about Donald Trump, read these articles:
- Donald Trump Threatens to Sue New York Times
- Did Trump University Tell Its Students to Break the Law?
- Trump University Lawsuit to Proceed
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