When John Oliver revealed that Donald Trump's family name had been changed from "Drumpf" and called on America to #makedonalddrumpfagain, it provided a handy hook for a way of talking about the orange one's micron-thick layer of slickness and the everyday rot within it.
You couldn't ask for better proof that "Drumpf" has become synonymous with "Trump" than the USPTO's decision not to issue a trademark to "Drumpf Industries," a company registered in Delaware, than had applied for a mark on "provision of a website featuring multimedia content." The Kapil Bhanot, the Trademark Office's examiner, said the mark would not be issued because "the applied-for mark consists of or comprises a name, portrait, or signature identifying a particular living individual whose written consent to register the mark is not of record" and the "general public would readily associate the applied-for mark, Drumpf, with Donald Trump."
‘Drumpf’ trademark application refused by USPTO
[World IP Review]
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION [USPTO]
(Thanks, David Wolfberg!)
