The family business · 2016 campaign · № 14
Russia's trademark agency renews six Trump trademarks, four of them registered on Election Day 2016
“The company will not be seeking any new business opportunities in Russia” Alan Garten, Trump Organization chief legal counsel
- Date
- , Statement to The New York Times, published June 18, 2017
- Subject
- Russia
- Benefit
- Gifts and payments
- Government
- Russia
- Beneficiary
- Donald Trump (Trump Organization)
- Topic
- Ethics & conflicts
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Rospatent, the Russian government agency for intellectual property, granted new 10-year terms for six Trump trademarks in approvals that ran from April to December 2016, The New York Times reported on June 18, 2017 from the agency's records. Four of the approvals were registered on November 8, 2016, the day of the U.S. presidential election. The trademarks had been obtained between 1996 and 2007 for hotel and branding projects that were never built. Alan Garten of the Trump Organization said the renewals were sought "to prevent third parties from infringing on the company’s intellectual property rights" and that there were no plans to use them. A trademark lawyer told the Times that approval would normally not be a problem if a renewal was unchallenged. Rospatent did not answer the newspaper's questions.