Trade Mark “Keep America Great” Claimed by President Trump

Trump applies for trademark of his 2020 re-election slogan “Keep America Great” Donald Trump stopped an interview for some time and asked lawyer to register the phrase “Keep America Great” both with and without an exclamation point. Never straying far from his business roots, Trump has already submitted an application to trademark the slogan he plans to use for his 2020 re-election run: “Keep America Great.” Records from the United States Patent and Trademark Office show that the president applied on Wednesday — before he was even sworn into office — to trademark the phrase, both with and without an exclamation point.

also covers usage from bumper stickers to clothing to fundraising. The applicant was New York-based Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. The applications are pending, awaiting review by the trademark office.

Donald Trump told The Washington Post last week that he had chosen “Keep America Great!” as his re-election slogan. According to the newspaper’s report, he shouted for a lawyer in the middle of the interview. A lawyer came within two minutes, and was instructed to file a trademark for the phrase, the paper said. Trump then resumed the interview. Trump told the Post that he came up with his “Make America Great Again!” campaign slogan on November 7, 2012, the day after Republican Mitt Romney lost to Democrat Barack.

In China Apple loses trademark lawsuit over ‘iPhone’ name

Beijing, May 5: Apple Inc has lost a trademark lawsuit in China, with a court here allowing a leather goods- maker to sell wallets and handbags flashing the world’s biggest technology giant’s exclusive ‘iPhone’ name. The Beijing Municipal High People’s Court ruled in favour of Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) limited, which sells a number of leather products such as smartphone cases and handbags under the name ‘IPHONE’, state media reported.

In 2002, Apple applied for the ‘iPhone’ trademark for its electronic goods in China, but it was not actually granted until 2013. Xintong Tiandi filed for its own ‘IPHONE’ trademark in China in 2007, the same year the first generation of Apple’s iPhone was launched in the US.

In order to obtain the exclusivity on the use of the ‘iPhone’ trademark in China, Apple first took the case to the Chinese trademark authority in 2012, but it failed as the agency claimed Apple could not prove the name ‘iPhone’ was a well-known brand prior to Xintong Tiandi’s registration in 2007. Apple then filed a lawsuit in a Beijing court. The court, however, ruled against it and Apple appealed to the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court. The court said the company did not sell the iPhone in China until 2009. The final judgement means Xintong Tiandi could continue to use the trademark to sell its products, state-run China Daily reported yesterday. Apple did not comment on the ruling. The ruling comes as Apple’s latest quarterly earnings showed a 13 per cent drop in revenue as sales of iPhones. China was a particular weak spot as the sales in China fell 26 per cent to USD 12.49 billion due to weak demand for iPhones. Xintong Tiandi confirmed the court ruling on its website and said the decision represented a victory for free consumer markets.

James Yan, a Beijing-based analyst at Counterpoint Technology Market Research said, “The failure of the trademark fight would not have a great impact on Apple’s brand and image but it might confuse consumers as they do not know whether these products are made by Apple or some producers copy Apple’s name when they are buying leather products embossed with the ‘IPHONE’ brand”. Zhu Dalin, an analyst at Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analyses International said the influence of Xintong Tiandi is very minor which would not pose a threat to Apple anyways as Apple mainly focuses on electronic devices such as smartphones and iPads.

PepsiCo wins trademark case over ‘Aquafina’

New Delhi: Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd has won a legal battle in the Delhi High Court over the trademark ‘Aquafina’ used for its packaged drinking water.

In Delhi High court , bench of Justice G S Sistani restrained PSI Ganesh Marketing from using “deceptively similar” trademark ‘Aqua Fies’ and causing infringement of rights in the trademark and copyright.

The court also awarded damages to the tune of Rs 5 lakh to Pepsico India on account of illegal activities of PSI Ganesh Marketing and ordered destruction of all the infringing goods within 4 weeks.

“On the basis of the documents placed on record, the plaintiffs have established that PepsiCo is the owner of the trademark, trade name, logo and label ‘Aquafina’ and the plaintiff have the exclusive right to use the same,” the court said.

“The impugned trademark of the defendants is deceptively similar to the PepsiCo’s trademark. The use of the word “Aqua Fies” by the defendants is likely to dilute the distinctive character of the plaintiffs trademark “Aquafina” and the same is likely to erode the goodwill and reputation of PepsiCo among its existing as well as potential customers in the market,” it said.

Pepsico said that the ‘Aquafina’ product was launched in India as early as 1999 and it is a unique word coined and exclusively adopted by it.

It also said that under section 17 of the Copyright Act, all rights in the label are owned by the plaintiffs and the said label is distinctive and is an original artistic work under section 2 (c) of the Copyright Act.