Donald Trump has filed to register TRUMP as a trademark in connection with a variety of goods and services. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows over thirty active federal registrations for TRUMP owned by the President’s related company DTTM Operations, LLC based in New York.
The goods and services of the registrations range from bumper stickers to television programs in the field of business The President has taken some heat for his “commercial” activities, given the potential conflicts of interest presented by his business holdings. But the fact is, President Trump may be acting defensively to protect his exclusive right to use his name in future business ventures.
A name may serve as a trademark, like any other word, only if the name is used as a mark to distinguish the goods and services in commerce. By the same token, an individual is not entitled to use even her own name as a trademark for goods or services she offers, if a third party has already laid claim to the mark or a confusingly similar mark in connection with the same or closely related goods or services.
So if President Trump wishes to protect his exclusive rights to use TRUMP as a trademark in the future, he must take steps to establish and maintain rights in the name, even while serving as President of the United States.
There is a strange exception in the trademark regulations for particular types of “presidential” trademarks. When a name, portrait, or signature in a mark identifies a particular living or a deceased president of the United States during the life of his widow, the mark can be registered only with the written consent of the individual, or of the president’s widow. 15 U.S.C. §1052(c).
Time will tell if the goodwill associated with the TRUMP trademark remains after the President’s term of office comes to an end.