Why Chinese Brands Are Clamouring To Trademark The Name ‘Ivanka’
Her popularity is on the rise, in China at least
Being the daughter of the new U.S. President has done a mix of good, bad and strange things to Ivanka Trump’s business and brand.
For the most part, it hasn’t been very positive, with leading U.S. retailers Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus confirming they were dropping her brand from their stores — for sales reasons, not political, they’ve claimed.
Then Kellyanne Conway, counsellor to President Trump, promoted Ivanka’s fashion label on television, which is illegal and didn’t bring about any favourable press.
On the other hand, her Ivanka Trump fragrance recently raced to the top of Amazon’s best-sellers list, as fans tried to show support after the negative impacts on her brand.
Now, onto the strange and seemingly random: Chinese brands and individuals have submitted at least 65 applications to trademark the name ‘Ivanka’ in Beijing, reports the South China Morning Post. The products they want to trademark the name for range from wallpaper to alcohol, to even sanitary items.
One Beijing-based company that provides weight loss services filed 10 applications.
According to the South China Morning Post, most of the applications are still being processed, and there’s no guarantee any of them will be successful.
And it’s not just her English name companies and individuals are trying to trademark — the report says “about 40 Chinese companies have used the Chinese characters of her name in their company registrations.”
It’s reported the rush to trademark Trump’s name comes after her rise in popularity in China, which has been linked to her visit to the Chinese embassy in Washington over the Lunar New Year period. Her daughter, Arabella, has also proven popular after Trump posted this video of her singing in Chinese to celebrate the new year.
This practice isn’t uncommon in China; one time a Chinese shoemaker trademarked Michael Jordan’s image and Chinese name for years.
Via Harper’s Bazaar AustraliaÂ