iTrump, an app developer, appears to have prevailed in a long-running trademark war against the US president's business operation, without the use of a lawyer.
The app, iTrump, doesn’t actually have anything to do with the president, and features, as per the image below, a virtual trumpet for the purposes of learning to play.
(Photo by Tom Scharfeld)
The app is designed by Tom Scharfeld under his business name ‘Spoonjack LLC’, after the development of iBone, a similar app with the trombone in mind.
Sharon Daboul, Senior Associate, at Intellectual Property law firm, EIP, told Lawyer Monthly: “This decision is the latest in a six year battle between an individual app developer and Donald Trump, which appears to have started when Trump’s lawyers demanded that he withdraw an application to register “iTrump” as a trademark for “computer software for use in producing sound”, back in 2010. After a favourable decision in 2013, the app developer applied to cancel some of Trump’s trademark registrations, leading to the most recent decision.
“In the US, the majority of disputes will settle before a decision is reached. If battle goes all the way to judgment, it’s not unusual for a US opposition or cancellation action to take around three years to reach a conclusion. The length of this particular dispute is due to the multiple proceedings between the parties.
“The decision is refreshing; the majority of individuals would have been intimidated by a letter from Trump’s lawyers, but in this case, the app developer rightfully stood his ground.
“Trademarks are powerful assets, irrespective of a company’s size.”
What do you think of Trump’s intimidating approach to the small developer?
