NYC Mayor de Blasio’s attempt to mock Trump could get him in legal hot water

bill-donaldDuring an appearance on CNN Thursday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attempt, it seems, to mock Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump by wearing a ball cap emblazoned with the words “Make America Fair Again” may have resulted in a trademark infringement, some legal experts say.

“It’s quite obvious that if you have a good idea in America you need to put it on a hat,” de Blasio told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. “Let’s see how this goes for my progressive agenda.”

Trump filed a trademark for his own campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” in 2012.

According to Title 15 U.S. Code Section 1127:

The term “trademark” includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof—
(1) used by a person, or
which a person has a bona fide intention to use in commerce and applies to register on the principal register established by this chapter,
to identify and distinguish his or her goods, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods, even if that source is unknown.

 

“If you hear ‘Make America Great Again,’ you’re going to think of Donald Trump’s promotion of all his political issues,” trademark attorney Josh Gerben told The Daily Caller. “His lawyers clearly are trying to lock this phrase down as much as they can now that he’s got traction on it.”

Anyone with knowledge of the real estate mogul knows that he’s not shy about filing a lawsuit if he feels he’s been wronged.

The Daily Caller reported:

Gerben noted that “there is a fair-use defense in trademark law” that protects parodies, but also said “there may be a little bit of a stronger case for Mr. Trump,” if De Blasio is using “Make America Fair Again” to promote his own policies.

Finally, Gerben told TheDC that based on Trump’s frequent use of the court system, “it would not surprise [him] if [Trump] came out and said ‘I think this is a violation of my trademark.’”

 

Watch this clip, via Fox News.

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