President Trump has won preliminary approval to register 38 new Trademarks in China for industries including Restaurants and Advertising, Business Interests that could add to criticism over potential Conflicts of Interest.
As a businessman, Trump has amassed a vast portfolio of Trademarks around the world, as he seeks to protect his Brands and his Products. Those trademarks, at times, clash with the vision of a populist President who has espoused an “America First” strategy.
China has been among the biggest targets for his Business Prospects. Including the latest batch, his Companies have filed for at least 126 Trademarks in China since 2005 for Restaurants, Bars, Hotels, Brokerage Services, Advertising, and Management Consulting companies.
But as President, Trump has criticized China for its Trade practices. On the Campaign trail, he threatened to impose Punitive Tariffs against the Country.
The timing of the new Trademarks could create a perception problem for Trump, coming so soon after he took office.
In February, the Chinese Government announced that it was granting Trump the right to Protect his Name Brand for Construction projects, after a decade-long Legal battle. That Trademark approval was announced just days after Trump pulled back from his challenge to China’s Policy on Taiwan in a call with Xi Jinping, the Chinese President.
A number of Trademarks have followed, with China’s Trademark Office giving Preliminary Approval for the 38 new ones on Feb. 27 and on Monday, according to the Agency’s website.
The latest Trademarks, which were under the name “Donald J. Trump,” were initially approved for use in Golf Clubs, Insurance Services, Child-Care Centers, and Nursing Homes, among other categories. They will be formally Registered three months later, if the Agency receives no objections.
Matthew Dresden, a Lawyer with Harris Bricken in Seattle who specializes in Chinese Intellectual Property Law, said it was atypical that all the Trademarks were “approved at once.” “I think that’s really odd. That makes you look and think: ‘Somebody got some instructions at the trademark office that these should be approved,’” Mr. Dresden said.
Scott Palmer, an Intellectual Property Lawyer at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, which represents American Corporations in China, played down the significance of the timing, emphasizing that the Country’s Law specifies that the Trademark Office should complete its examination of a filing within nine months. Trump had registered the Trademarks last April. “There’s nothing inherent in that timing that is questionable or strange or should be viewed as out of the ordinary,” Mr. Palmer said. “The Trademark Office has been working on getting this timing right for a few years now, and the fact that they are hitting the target doesn’t mean they are likely to have played favorites.”
But after the call with China's Xi Jinping, make this change questionable.
Critics say Mr. Trump’s trail of Trademarks could leave the President vulnerable to potential Conflicts of Interest. In February, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California sounded alarms about China’s decision to award Mr. Trump his Trademark in Construction services, saying it could be a Breach of the United States Constitution and that Foreign Governments could use his Trademarks to influence Foreign Policy decisions.
“This is an astonishing development,” United States Senator Ben Cardin, Democrat of Maryland and Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a written statement. “It’s clear to me that officials in Beijing have come to appreciate the potential return on investments for China in having a positive, personal business relationship with the President of the United States, who has not taken appropriate and transparent steps to completely sever his relationship from the corporation that bears his name.”
It is unclear whether the Trump Organization will Profit from the new Trademarks. While the Company has pursued a large number of Hotel Development deals in China, one of its Executives recently suggested that the Organization would drop those Projects.
The Trump Organization has said it would not be doing any new International deals. Trump has said he is turning over control of his Business to his two adult sons.
Alan Garten, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at the Trump Organization, said in a statement: “The Trump Organization has been actively enforcing its intellectual property rights in China for more than a decade and its core real-estate related trademarks have been registered in China since 2011.”
He added: “The latest registrations are a natural result of those longstanding, diligent efforts, and any suggestion to the contrary demonstrates a complete disregard of the facts as well as a lack of understanding of international trademark law.”
The Trump Brand has been a ripe target for Trademarks. Trump’s name can be found on Toilets, Cosmetics, and Leather Goods in China, Trademarks that have been registered by other people.
In a recent interview, Spring Chang, Founder of Chang Tsi & Partners, a Law firm in Beijing that represents the Trump Organization, declined to comment on Trump’s specific Trademarks, but said she encouraged a “Defensive Strategy” to prevent a celebrity’s name from becoming treated as a generic term.
Asked whether Trump plans to sue people who have registered his name as Trademarks in China, Ms. Chang, who also represents Lady Gaga and Linkin Park in the Country, said: “We haven’t discussed our strategy with him. As you know, he’s very, very busy.”
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