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SHANGHAI – The Chinese government has granted a total of 18 trademarks to companies linked to US President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump over the last two months, according to Chinese archives, who fear conflicts of interest in the White House then that Americans vote in national elections.
In October, the China Trademark Office granted provisional approval of 16 marks to Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, bringing to 34 the total number of marks that China gave the go-ahead this year, according to the online database of the office. New approvals include Ivanka branded apparel, including sunglasses, handbags, shoes and jewelery, as well as beauty and voting machines.
The approvals took place three months after Ivanka Trump announced that she was dissolving her eponymous brand to focus on government work.
China has also granted provisional approval of two "Trump" brands to DTTM Operations LLC, headquartered at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York. They cover the services of restaurants, bars and branded hotels, as well as clothing and footwear.
All trademarks were filed in 2016 and will be finalized if no objection occurs during a 90-day comment period.
The president and his daughter both hold important intellectual property assets in China. Critics fear that China, where the courts and the bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party, could exploit these valuable rights to gain political weight.
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Another area of concern is that the Trump family's global intellectual property portfolio lays the groundwork for the president and daughter, a White House advisor, to take advantage of their global brands as soon as they leave.
"Ivanka receives preliminary approval for these new Chinese brands as her father continues to wage a trade war against China.Since she's kept her alien brands, the public will continue to wonder if President Trump has made foreign policy decisions in the interest of his business and that of his family ", wrote to Washington for" Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics ", a government watchdog group that first published information on the new Chinese brands of the brand Ivanka Trump.
"It is far from the first time that Chinese brands of Ivanka pose ethical problems," the organization said in a statement. "In May 2018, Ivanka Trump's business received the approval of several new Chinese brands a week before President Trump announced his intention to lift the ban on society." Chinese ZTE, for violation of US sanctions.In 2017, the company received three new Chinese brands on the same day, she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "
Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump's lawyers in Beijing declined to comment immediately.
Companies register trademarks for a variety of reasons. They may be a sign of ambition, but many companies also file defensive complaints, particularly in China, where trademark squatting is rampant. The trademarks are categorized and may include items that a brand does not intend to market. Some trademark lawyers also recommend that customers register trademarks for products made in China, even if they are not sold on-site.
China stated that it treated all trademark applications equally under the law.
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