A California coin dealer, the New Liberty Dollar LLC, is selling gold, silver and copper coins with Trump’s likeness on the obverse and a torch with the words, “vote non politician” on the reverse. Bernard von NotHaus, a principal in the company, said he minted similar coins for Ron Paul when the former Texas congressman ran for president in 2008.
“This is a form of down-home activism,” von NotHaus said. “I’m not really in this for money.”
Famous Names
Other trademark applications run toward the anodyne: pro-Trump T-shirts, hats, keychains, bumper stickers and other miscellany that looks different enough from Trump’s own logo as to provoke no complaint from his campaign or businesses. Garsten said parodies are protected by the First Amendment and slogans also are OK as long as they don’t appear to come from the campaign.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t comment on specific applications, spokesman Ryan Elliott said.
Applications typically take a year, so by the time many filings inspired by Trump’s campaign reach the front of the line, Trump may be out of the race or on his way to the White House, said Erik Pelton, a trademark attorney in suburban Washington who’s not involved with any Trump-related applications.
Pelton said the office is likely to reject most pro-Trump applications because living individuals usually have to give permission to use their likenesses for commercial purposes.
“The more famous a brand is, the more protection it gets,” Pelton said, “and there aren’t many brands more famous than Trump’s.”