The Beijing-based Unitalen Attorneys at Law, which represents U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in an administrative action for trademark review, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the firm has helped Trump in recovering the right to use the trademark "TRUMP" in construction services.
The trademark "TRUMP" with the application number 5771154 before the Trademark Office (TMO) of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce was filed in the name of Donald Trump in December 2006, to be used on services in relation to decoration and repair in residential properties and hotels.
Prior to that, however, a Chinese man named Dong Wei applied for another trademark "TRUMP," which was slightly different from the one that Trump filed.
"After handling the case for years, we've successfully cancelled Dong Wei's trademark right in sectors like construction, etc. Now he can only use it in relation to mining sector," Zhou Dandan, a lawyer who handled the case at the law firm, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
In November 2009, Trump appealed the rejection of his application by the TMO to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) for the right to use his trademark in the construction of commercial properties and hotels, but the appeal was rejected by the authority.
Later, he brought an administrative action for judicial review to the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court and the Beijing Higher People's Court. The latter accepted the case in 2015 but finally dismissed Trump's appeal in May 2015, upholding the decision by TRAB and the judgment by the court at first instance.
"Although the court ruling was unfavorable, our trademark cancellation procedure against Dong's trademark initiated earlier got encouraging result by invalidate Dong's trademark right in relevant sectors this September," Zhou said.
