Person’s Name
But things are not going as smoothly as Zajkowski had hoped. The U.S. Trademark Office refused to register the word “Trumpinocchio” as a trademark. U.S. trademark law (section 2c Lanham Act) includes a provision about personal names: if your trademark consists of or comprises a name … identifying a particular living individual, you need his written consent for registration, if the public would reasonably assume a connection between the individual and the goods or services.
Connection
Of course, I don’t deny that the “Trump” part refers to the former president, Zajkowski said. But there’s no reasonable person who would believe there’s a business association between Donald Trump and Trumpinocchio, Zajkowski argued in appeal.
That may be true, responded the Board, but Donald Trump is so well-known that ‘there is no question that the public would view the name in question as the name of a particular living individual.’ ‘Thus, the necessary connection for purposes of Section 2(c) exists.’ So you still need Trumps’ consent, according to the Board. And, of course, Trump is not going to give that permission.
Trump Too Small
The Board has also temporarily held off on its decision in this case, awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest American court. This was related to another trademark, “Trump Too Small,” which was applied for T-shirts. When the registration of this trademark was also refused because of the name “Trump,” the applicant appealed.
Trademark Law Takes Precedence
He argued that “Trump Too Small” was a form of political commentary and thus should be protected under First Amendment right to freedom of speech. On appeal, the Supreme Court was asked to decide what should take precedence in such a case: freedom of speech or the provision in trademark law that you cannot register the name of a well-known person as a trademark without his consent. Ultimately the Supreme ruled that the section 2(c) of the Lanham Act does not violate the First Amendment and the trademark office was right to refuse the application for Trump too small. As a result, also Zajkowski loses out with his Trumpinocchio trademark.
Bas Kist
