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Does Ivanka Trump Hold a Trademark on Coffins in China?
In 2018, the United States’ first daughter was awarded a variety of trademarks.
- PUBLISHED 14 APRIL 2020
Claim
First daughter Ivanka Trump was granted a trademark on coffins in China and stands to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rating
Mixture
What’s True
Ivanka Trump’s company holds a variety of trademarks in China, including one for coffins.
What’s False
However, this trademark was granted in 2018, well before the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Moreover, Ivanka Trump shuttered her business in July 2018 to focus on work for the White House and there is no evidence she is involved in manufacturing or selling coffins in China or elsewhere.
Origin
In April 2020, as the global death toll from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic surpassed 100,000, social media users started to post messages about how Ivanka Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter and newly appointed member of the White House’s council to reopen America, had a trademark in China on coffins:
While some shared this claim as if it were a “fun fact,” others made a more direct connection between her company’s trademark on coffins in China to the rising death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic:
According to multiple news reports, the first daughter’s company, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, was truly awarded a trademark on coffins in China. However, this occurred in 2018, long before COVID-19 started to spread around the globe.
The Associated Press reported in May 2018 that her company had been awarded 13 trademarks in China over three months. These trademarks covered a variety of products, including baby blankets, coffee, perfume, and coffins:
Ivanka Trump’s brand continues to win foreign trademarks in China and the Philippines, adding to questions about conflicts of interest at the White House, The Associated Press has found.
On Sunday, China granted the first daughter’s company final approval for its 13th trademark in the last three months, trademark office records show. Over the same period, the Chinese government has granted Ivanka Trump’s company provisional approval for another eight trademarks, which can be finalized if no objections are raised during a three-month comment period.
Taken together, the trademarks could allow her brand to market a lifetime’s worth of products in China, from baby blankets to coffins, and a host of things in between, including perfume, makeup, bowls, mirrors, furniture, books, coffee, chocolate and honey. Ivanka Trump stepped back from management of her brand and placed its assets in a family-run trust, but she continues to profit from the business.
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Australia’s ABC News noted that companies sometimes file for a trademark as part of a “defensive” strategy to prevent competitors from squatting on a brand’s name:
Companies register for trademarks for a variety of reasons. They can be a sign of corporate ambition, but in many countries, like China, where trademark squatting is rampant, companies also file defensively, to block copycats from grabbing legal rights to a brand’s name.
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Ivanka announced the immediate closure of her brand in July 2018, citing her official government responsibilities in Washington, DC. However, her trademarks remain a potential conflict of interest as she continues to work on policy in the White House and meet with foreign leaders.
To sum up: Ivanka Trump’s company obtained several trademarks in China in 2018 that covered a wide range of products, including baby blankets, perfume, and coffins. This trademark gives the company the opportunity to sell Trump-branded coffins and prevents other companies from using the Trump brand to sell their own coffins.
As of this writing, we’ve seen no reporting that Ivanka Trump’s company (which she no longer operates) plans to manufacture or sell coffins in China.
PUBLISHED 14 APRIL 2020BY
DAN EVON
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ivanka-trump-coffins-trademark/
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