The Trump family company has filed to trademark the use of the president’s name on airports but says it doesn’t plan on charging a fee — at least for a proposed renaming of one near his Florida home.
Applications filed by the Trump Organization with the federal trademark office are seeking exclusive rights to use the president’s name on airports and dozens of related things found there, from buses shuttling passengers to umbrellas and travel bags to flight suits. The filings come amid debate in Florida over a state bill to name the Palm Beach airport after Trump and a dispute over funding of a tunnel between New York and New Jersey that is tied up with proposals that both it and Dulles International Airport in Virginia bear his name.
The Trump Organization said that the applications were triggered by the Florida bill and that it didn’t seek any profit — only protection against “bad actors” given that the Trump name is the “most infringed trademark in the world.”
“To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,” the company said it in a statement, referring to what is now called the Palm Beach International Airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
The company didn’t respond when asked if it would charge royalties for the use of the name at other airports in the future, or on merchandise listed for protection in the filings.
Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer who uncovered the filings over the weekend, said the applications were the first of their kind he’s ever seen.
“While presidents and public officials have had landmarks named in their honor, a sitting president’s private company has never in the history of the United States sought trademark rights in advance of such naming,” Gerben wrote on his blog. “These are trademark filings that are completely unprecedented.”
Another break with the past: Presidents usually have to wait for years after they’ve left office to get an airport named after them — or die.
Bill Clinton had to wait 11 years, Ronald Reagan nine. For Gerald Ford, it took 22 years. JFK was quickest — just one month after his assassination.
If Trump gets his airport, it will join a long line of organizations, buildings and other public things renamed for him in recent months including the Kennedy Center performing arts venue, a road outside Mar-a-Lago dubbed the President Donald J. Trump Boulevard and a yet-to-built new class of battleships.
The airport trademark applications filed by a family company unit called DTTM Operations with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are for the use of three names — President Donald J. Trump International Airport, Donald J. Trump International Airport and DJT.
The Trump company’s claim that it is the most infringed trademark in the world could not be quickly confirmed.
Gucci has faced tens of thousands of copycat items since the early 1970s when Trump was starting out in Manhattan real estate. Prada has been active suing companies for years, and Rolex battles fake watches by the millions.
The family has been on a branding spree in the past year, putting the Trump name on towers, golf resorts and residential developments in Dubai, India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company has also been selling Trump-branded electric guitars, Bibles, and sneakers, ventures that also fall under the DTTM unit.
In response to criticism that he and his family are profiting off the presidency, Trump has said that his business is held in trust by his sons and that he has no day-to-day involvement in the company.
Condon writes for the Associated Press.
