Trump Trump Make America Great Again Logo
Need more proof Donald Trump is bringing his business savvy to the campaign trail? He has already trademarked his "Make America Groovy Again" slogan.
Yes, Ronald Reagan may take said it first, but Trump is the 1 asserting his commercial rights to the phrase.
Trump applied for a trademark for "Make America Great Again" in Nov 2012 -- mere days subsequently the last presidential election.
Trademark applications typically take a long time to process. Trump only received the "Make America Keen Again" trademark in July of this year.
Here's where it gets interesting: The trademark is specifically for "political activeness committee services." In other words, information technology doesn't say anything near hats, T-shirts, etc.
E'er since Trump started sporting his red chapeau in early August with "Make America Great Over again," it'southward get a hot seller online. And not merely on Trump's website.
Supporters can buy the hat -- in numerous different colors -- for $25 directly from Trump's campaign trade website. Or they can become a ripoff version from thousands of other sellers for as piffling as $4.99.
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Trump takes legal activity confronting illegal sellers
Trump has had enough of the copycats. Now he's getting his lawyer involved.
1 of his showtime targets is CafePress, a popular website where people can print T-shirts, java mugs and other garb. The company received a "finish and desist" letter from Trump'southward lawyer at the end of September.
Trump's legal team made information technology 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 one's brand and trademark," Trump's lawyer Alan Garten told CNNMoney.
CafePress hasn't issued an official response, simply information technology's telling that there used to exist hundreds, if not thousands, of items available on CafePress with Trump's motto. Searching the site now for that slogan returns goose egg with that exact phrase.
Trump has repeatedly stressed that he's a billionaire who is self-funding his campaign and doesn't need outsider'south money. But he has also fabricated it articulate that he knows how to build a make. He's fabricated a lot of coin licensing the Trump name on everything from hotels to ties.
Now he'due south prepare to do the same with "Brand America Bully Once more."
Related: Donald Trump's economy vs. Jeb Bush's: Who wins
Trump applies for another trademark
To articulate up any confusion, Trump applied for some other trademark on Baronial thirteen. This one spells out that the trademark covers bumper sticks, T-shirts, tank tops, campaign buttons, caps and hats, baby article of clothing, blogs. The list goes on. Information technology could take months, if not years, for that trademark to exist approved.
In the concurrently, legal experts say Trump may still take a valid case against CafePress and other sellers.
Paul Callan, CNN'southward legal annotator and a former media police force professor, says Trump's lawyers can likely build a solid case that America now associates the phrase "Make America Great Again" with Trump, similar to the way people associate "Simply Do Information technology" 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?
There are still thousands of copycat hats and shirts
For now, Trump's 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'due south 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 holding and copyright concerns very seriously" and that the site "removes items when we accept proper notice." Amazon and eBay did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump isn't the start to trademark campaign materials. Obama'south entrada applied for trademarks for the rising sun logo, among others.
In this election wheel, Republican Ben Carson also sent a cease and desist letter to CafePress for declared 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 encephalon 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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