For most of last year, Donald J. Trump’s application to register trademarks for his brand of home accessories languished in a government office in Lima, Peru. But since Mr. Trump was elected in November, the pace has picked up. A six-month-old request to register his brand of sheets, duvets, towels and other goods, now selling briskly at a home goods store in Lima, overcame a crucial hurdle in late December. So did a second application to protect Mr. Trump’s brand of flatware that was filed after the election.
Peruvian officials say they are treating Mr. Trump’s trademark applications like anyone else’s and are acting on them now simply because his business representatives have answered outstanding questions. They insist that Peru’s president, who met Mr. Trump in the Oval Office in late February, has no influence over their decisions.
Petition
Since becoming president, Mr. Trump has shifted control of his companies to a trust managed by his eldest sons and a company officer. But one of the sons, Eric Trump, an adviser to the trust, has said he will keep his father abreast of the state of his business empire. Mr. Trump will also be able to tap into company profits at will.Seeking to blunt the emoluments controversy, Mr. Trump has pledged to donate profits from foreign government guests at Trump hotels or similar businesses to the federal Treasury. His sons say they have also backed away from billions of dollars’ worth of new foreign deals.
But they are still developing and expanding projects that were already underway, including a new 18-hole golf course at a Scottish resort. And as it has for 20 years, Alan Garten, chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, said in an email, the company is still “zealously enforcing and protecting its intellectual property rights around the world” especially in countries where “infringement is rampant.”
Ivanka Trump has applications pending in nine of the same countries where her father’s petitions await a decision, plus China, the databases and other records show. She has rolled her fashionbrand into a trust that is overseen by her brother-in-law, Josh Kushner, and sister-in-law, Nicole Meyer. Her lawyer, Jamie S. Gorelick, a prominent Democrat who served in President Bill Clinton’s administration, is to review all new deals and flag any potential conflicts of interest to Ms. Trump.No worldwide trademark registry exists, and countries update their data differently, so the number of open applications is an estimate. Mr. Trump’s pending petitions cover the gamut of goods and services, from chandeliers in Saudi Arabia to spa services in Canada.
Decision
Both now await decisions, but Trump sheets, pillows and dishware are already for sale at Casa Viva, a home goods store in Lima. On Saturday, Christopher Ramos, a 37-year-old businessman, spent about $100 on ivory-colored Trump bath towels. He said the brand conveyed luxury, “like I’m staying in a five-star hotel.”
Gonzalo Mejia Peterson, the store manager, said some customers reacted warily to the Trump name, but the sales staff has been trained to explain the difference between politics and business. “There’s no reason to mix them up,” he said.
A federal appeal court has ruled that trademark registration in United States bestow significant, financially valuable benefits. Unlike the United States some foreign companies allow applicants to register trademarks defensively to stake our future ground. In 2015 deposition discovered by non-profit Project on Government Oversight. Mr. Garten , Trump’s Organization lawyer,said Mr. Trump owned his Trademark.
His companies have recently been making a concerted push in Central and South America, filing dozens of Trademark applications. One filed a petition covering a variety of home accessories in Peru in June, but Peru’s trademark office issued an order to publish the request, a crucial step, only in late December. A second request covering Trump cutlery, filed Dec. 16, cleared that hurdle in mere days. A Peruvian trademark official said the first application took longer because it was broader and the firm failed to promptly respond to questions.
