NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family company has filed to trademark the use of the president’s name at an airport but says it doesn’t plan to charge fees — at least not to rename an airport near the president’s Florida home.
The application filed by the Trump Organization with the federal trademark office is seeking exclusive rights to use the president’s name at the airport and on dozens of related items found there, from buses transporting passengers to umbrellas, travel bags and flight suits. The filings come as Florida debates a state bill to name a Palm Beach airport after Trump, as well as a dispute over funding for a tunnel between New York and New Jersey tied to a proposal to name both that tunnel and Dulles International Airport in Virginia after Trump.
The Trump Organization said the filings were prompted by the Florida law and that it was not seeking any profit but simply to protect against “bad actors” because Trump’s name is “the most infringed trademark in the world.”
“To be clear, the president and his family will not receive any royalties, license fees or any financial consideration from the proposed renaming of the airport,” the company said in a statement, referring to the airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort now known as Palm Beach International Airport.
The company did not immediately respond when asked whether it would charge royalties in the future for using the name at other airports or for protected goods listed in the filing.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who discovered the filings over the weekend, said they were the first of their kind he had seen.
“While presidents and public officials alike have landmarks named after them, never in the history of the United States has a sitting president’s private company sought trademark rights before naming them,” Gerben wrote on his blog. “I should be very clear: These trademark filings are completely unprecedented.”
The application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by a family-owned company called DTTM Operations uses three names: President Donald J. Trump International Airport, Donald J. Trump International Airport and DJT.
The family embarked on a branding spree last year, putting their name on towers, golf resorts and residential developments in Dubai, India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company also has been selling Trump-branded electric guitars, Bibles and sneakers, which are also part of the DTTM division.
Responding to criticism that he and his family have profited from the presidency, Trump said his businesses are run by his sons and that he is not involved in the company’s day-to-day affairs.