A US government agency has rejected a trademark application for Donald Trump’s Truth Social because the name of the social network is not unique enough.
In an Aug. 2 filing, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Truth Social’s name is too similar to that of other businesses, which could cause consumers to be “confused, are mistaken or misled as to the commercial source of the party’s goods and/or services.”
The trademark snafu is another hurdle for the new social networking service, whose parent company has drawn regulatory control and recently warned that his success could be affected by a decline in Trump’s popularity or by “more controversies that damage his credibility.”
The trademark office’s rejection “is a huge obstacle” to Truth Social protecting its name, according to trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who tweeted about the denial Thursday.
“No matter how big your company is or how famous your sponsors are, the US Patent and Trademark Office will review each application on its own, and you can still run into trouble if it’s not unique enough.” Gerben told CBS MoneyWatch.
Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The company can appeal the decision and has about six months to do so, Gerben said. But getting a decision reversed can be difficult, he added: “We do a lot of this work here, and I would tell a client that they have about a 33% chance of success.”
Vero and Truth Network
The trademark office noted that Truth Social’s name is similar to two other companies: Vero — True Social, a social networking app, and Truth Network, a Christian radio service. The name Truth Social is confusingly “similar to the trademarks” of Vero: True Social and Truth Network, the agency said.
Trump’s network could try to negotiate with Vero: True Social or Truth Network, Gerben noted. But at the same time, the former president’s social media service now faces the risk that those companies could enforce its trademarks.
“There are data companies that come in and notify the owner of these trademarks and say, ‘Your trademark has been used to block this other app,'” he said. “The biggest risk is that one of these companies can decide that they would like to do so. enforce your brand rights and demand it [Truth Social] They don’t use his name anymore.”
But Trump is not known to avoid litigation, Gerben added. “The chances that they’re really concerned about it probably aren’t too high considering the customer involved,” he said. “I do not think so [the trademark rejection] will deter Trump from using the name.”
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