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The Trump Organization has filed with the federal trademark office to seek rights to use President Donald J. Trump’s name on airports, while saying it does not plan to charge royalties connected to a proposed airport rename near his Florida residence. The filings also request trademark protections for a wide set of airport-related products and services, according to applications described by the Associated Press.
The applications were filed by the Trump Organization with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, seeking exclusive rights for the use of the president’s name “on airports and dozens of related things found there,” the AP reported. The proposed scope ranges from passenger shuttles to items such as umbrellas and travel bags, as well as flight-related apparel.
The Trump Organization said it does not intend to take money from the airport rename tied to the Florida bill that would change the name of the Palm Beach airport. “To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalty, licensing fee, or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming,” the company said in a statement, referring to what is now called the Palm Beach International Airport near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
The AP reported that the company tied its trademark filings to the Florida measure. The Trump Organization also said the applications were intended to protect against “bad actors” because the Trump name is “the most infringed trademark in the world,” language the company used to justify the filings.
The AP said the company did not respond to questions about whether it would charge royalties for use of the name at other airports in the future, or about whether merchandise included in the filings would be subject to payments. The AP also reported that the filing unit is a Trump Organization company segment known as DTTM Operations, which submitted applications seeking use of the names President Donald J. Trump International Airport, Donald J. Trump International Airport and “DJT.”
The move drew attention because trademark lawyers said it breaks from prior patterns. Josh Gerben, the trademark lawyer who uncovered the filings, told the AP that the applications were the first of their kind he had seen. In a blog post described by the AP, Gerben wrote that “While presidents and public officials have had landmarks named in their honor, a sitting president’s private company has never in the history of the United States sought trademark rights in advance of such naming,” and that the filings were “completely unprecedented.”
The AP also reported that the company’s timing differs from historical practice in which presidents typically wait years after leaving office—or, in some cases, after death—to seek or receive high-profile naming. The AP cited examples: Bill Clinton waiting 11 years, Ronald Reagan waiting nine, and Gerald Ford waiting 22 years, while John F. Kennedy’s airport naming occurred one month after his assassination.
The filings come amid wider debate over the role of the Trump brand in public naming and infrastructure proposals. The AP said the applications arrived as Florida lawmakers debated the airport rename tied to Trump and as a dispute over funding for a tunnel between New York and New Jersey involved proposals that both the tunnel and Virginia’s Dulles International Airport bear his name.
The Trump family’s branding has expanded beyond airports, the AP reported, including recent efforts placing the Trump name on towers, golf resorts and residential developments in multiple countries. It also reported that the Trump company had sold Trump-branded items, including electric guitars, bibles and sneakers, ventures that fall under the DTTM unit described in the applications.
As criticism has grown that Trump and his family are profiting from the presidency, Trump has said his business is held in trust by his sons and that he has no day-to-day involvement in the company, the AP reported.