Donald Trump threatens new battle with China… over flirty skater skirts
Donald Trump has found himself in a surprising new battle with China – this time over mini skirts and women’s fashion.
The president is taking on a Chinese clothing brand that has been using the president’s initials to sell dresses, tops, and other eye-catching outfits online.
For 12 years, Hong Kong-based D&J Xin Rong International Trading Company Ltd has been trading under ‘DJT’ and ‘DJT Fashion’ without the names ever formally being contested.
Their business platforms include an Amazon storefront selling high waisted mini-skirts – that it calls skater skirts – and other sexy female outfits, with the slogan: ‘For every piece we design, our intention is to inspire every woman to feel good.’
The overlap has now caught the attention of Trump’s legal team, filings show and he wants it to stop.
The company renewed its trademarks in June last year with the US Patent and Trademark Office, but Trump’s attorneys have since filed a ‘petition for cancellation’.
According to the February 26 filing, the brand gives a ‘false suggestion of a connection with persons’ and ‘the registration is being used by the registrant so as to misrepresent the source of the goods or services’. There is no mention, however, of the name Trump or picture of the president on the company’s website.
It also claims it ‘consists of or comprises a name, portrait, or signature of a living individual without written consent, or the name, portrait, or signature of a deceased president without the written consent of the surviving spouse.’
President Donald Trump has launched an unusual trademark battle over his ‘DJT’ initials after a Chinese fashion brand used them for years, the Daily Mail can reveal
Hong Kong-based D&J Xin Rong International Trading Company Ltd has been doing business under the name ‘DJT’ to sell women’s mini skirts, dresses, and other fashion items for 12 years
Trump’s lawyer Michael Santucci of 500 Law, based in Fort Lauderdale, also made it clear that it isn’t just any set of initials.
‘As of the date of this Petition, Donald J. Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, also known by his initials ‘DJT,’ is one of the most famous and widely recognized individuals in this country and throughout the world,’ he writes in the filing.
‘His name, likeness, image, and persona are instantly and universally recognized by the consuming public in the United States and internationally across all demographic segments.
For more than four decades, Donald J. Trump has maintained unprecedented and pervasive public exposure through extensive commercial branding and licensing activities spanning numerous industries, continuous and intensive national and international media coverage across all forms of media, and frequent, prominent appearances on television, social media, and other mass‑media platforms reaching hundreds of millions of consumers,’ added Santucci.
‘Donald J. Trump’s commercial activities have been the subject of extensive trademark protection and enforcement efforts.’
The attorney said that tens of millions of dollars have been spent building and protecting the Trump brand across hotels, merchandise, and media ventures.
‘They have become famous in the United States and well known worldwide… and assure consumers a high level of quality, appeal, and satisfaction,’ the attorney claimed without mentioning such notorious flops as Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines or Trump Steaks.
According to the USPTO website, the status of both ‘DJT’ and ‘DJT Fashion’ are now ‘cancellation pending’ with D&J Xin Rong International Trading Company having 60 days to file a response to the petition.
If they fail to answer, there’s a likelihood that the trademarks will be terminated.
On the other hand, if they do reply and the two parties don’t settle the disagreement, then it can go all the way to trial, which is currently pencilled in for September next year.
The Hong Kong-based company runs an Amazon store using the ‘DJT’ branding
The clothing brand’s products include mini skirts sold in different varieties
The Chinese company had been using DJT for 12 years without any public indication of a complaint but may now have to change the name it does business under
The Daily Mail attempted to contact D&J Xin Rong without success.
Trump used numerous trademark examples as the basis for cancellation such as DJT, Trump Hotels and a Trump coat of arms.
Another example is the recent trademark application for ‘President Donald J Trump International Airport’, after the Florida state senate voted last month to pay permanent homage to him by renaming Palm Beach International Airport.
The Trump Organization has filed trademarks for DJT and the airport’s three-letter code PBI could be changed to Trump’s initials, which are not used by any other airport worldwide.
That happened in 1963 when Idlewild Airport in New York was rechristened John F. Kennedy International Airport just a month after the 35th president was assassinated. Its code was changed from IDL to JFK.
State Senator Debbie Mayfield, who proposed the renaming, reportedly submitted a funding request for $5.5 million which would pay for signage, branding and website updates associated with the renaming – yet there’s only an initial $2.75 million available.
Trump Organization spokeswoman Kimberly Banza insisted to ABC News the president is not seeking to profit from the move, and said the applications were instead intended to prevent ‘bad actors from infringing upon or misusing the name’.
‘To be clear, the president and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,’ she said.
