Will There Even Be a 'Trump Airport'? "Unprecedented in U.S. History"

Including luggage and animal cages
Florida House passes bill to rename "Palm Beach International Airport"
to "Trump Airport"

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Reuters, Yonhap News Agency

As the number of public infrastructure facilities bearing the name of President Donald Trump of the United States continues to grow, it has been reported that the Trump family has filed trademark applications related to airport names using the "Trump" name.

The Trump Organization (TPO), the unlisted family holding company owned by President Trump, recently applied for trademark registration on airport names that include the president's name, the Associated Press and the New York Times reported on the 18th (local time). The three trademarks filed are "President Donald J. Trump International Airport," "Donald J. Trump International Airport," and "DJT."

Previously, the company submitted documents to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to apply for trademark registration covering airports, shuttle buses, umbrellas, travel bags, flight suits, and other airport-related goods. The filings also include the use of President Trump's name on a wide range of airport-related products such as luggage, animal transport cages, and shoes designed to protect airline passengers' feet during airport security screening.

TPO is President Trump's private company and is currently held in trust and operated by his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The company explained that it decided to file these trademark applications in response to discussions in the Florida state legislature about renaming an airport.

In fact, on this day the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill by a vote of 81 to 30 to change the name of Palm Beach International Airport, located 8 kilometers from President Trump's residence, to "President Donald J. Trump International Airport." A similar bill has also been introduced in the full session of the state Senate. Since the Republican Party, to which President Trump belongs, controls both chambers of the Florida legislature and the governor is also a Republican, it is expected that the bill will be easily passed and promulgated once there is internal agreement within the Republican Party.

TPO stated that the motivation for the trademark filings was not to seek profit but to obtain protection from malicious acts. The company also claimed that President Trump's name is the most infringed-upon trademark in the world, but provided no evidence to support this assertion. The Associated Press added that it was not able to verify this claim in a short period of time.

TPO said, "To be clear, the President and his family will not receive any royalties, license fees, or financial consideration of any kind from the proposed airport name change." However, the Associated Press reported that the company did not answer questions about whether it would, at the corporate level, seek royalties for the use of the Trump trademark on the airport itself or related products.

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben commented, "There have been cases where landmarks were named to honor presidents or public officials, but a sitting president's private company moving first to secure trademark rights ahead of such naming is unprecedented in U.S. history," adding that "this is a trademark application with absolutely no precedent."

There is no precedent for an airport bearing the name of a sitting president. In the cases of former Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford, such airport names were adopted only 11 years, 9 years, and 22 years after they left office, respectively. The name John F. Kennedy International Airport was adopted one month after President Kennedy was assassinated.

Meanwhile, since President Trump took office in January last year, the names of numerous public facilities have been changed. The name of a performing arts center in Washington, D.C., the capital, was changed to the "Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts," and the class designation for a new large Navy warship has been set as the "Trump class." A road near his residence in Florida has been named "President Donald J. Trump Boulevard."