Ivanka Trump Gets Approval for Branded Lingerie and Raincoats

As Ivanka Trump expands her role in the White House, U.S. trademark officials have steadily granted initial approval to a stream of new products bearing her name -- intimate apparel, lounge wear and athletic clothing.

Since the November election, Ivanka Trump Marks has filed three requests to use variations of her name on apparel, obtaining preliminary approval for all three, according to government filings. That brings to 10 the number of trademarks granted preliminary permission this year, following a nine-month dry spell for the brand.

Critics say Trump is walking a fine line between capitalizing on her prominence and maintaining her role as an unpaid senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Already in 2016, as her father campaigned, sales of her goods were up 21 percent, and an aggressive move into the $13 billion women’s lingerie business could prove lucrative. The company declined to comment on its plans.

Last month, as Trump prepared to accompany her father abroad, federal regulators gave the initial green light to ensure her name’s use to sell bras and hosiery. Since May, the brand has also been told it will likely gain approval for use of her logos on rain ponchos and scarves. 

In addition, two earlier applications -- for sweatshirts sold partly through Amazon and the Ivanka Trump Spa services in Washington -- are now being used in sales. Four trademarks have been officially registered since January: for handbags, online and retail jewelry stores and rain gear.

Trump announced in January that she was handing day-to-day management of her brand over to a top aide and transferred assets to a trust. But she refused to divest from her companies.

Judiciary Committee Query

Last week, members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter questioning Ivanka Trump’s involvement with her brand to Abigail Klem, who is now leading the company. The letter points to the company’s trademark applications overseas, especially in countries like China and the Philippines, whose leaders she has met in her government role.

“We remain concerned that Ivanka Trump may have used and may continue to use her official position within the White House to benefit her private interests,” the letter says.

The focus on her sales abroad may be reducing attention on what she is doing in the U.S., where she is no less ambitious.

Her aspirations are on full display in the hulking 19th-century Old Post Office building blocks from the White House. Her father turned the building into a luxury hotel after leasing the space from the government.

Couples Massages

One floor beneath the main entrance where lobbyists enjoy single malt Scotch, guests pamper themselves at The Spa By Ivanka Trump which offers 90-minute $375 hydrofacials and $460 couples massages. Two months ago, her trademark company signaled to federal authorities that it would begin its spa services.

Under U.S. trademark law, Trump’s protection for licensing her name on intimate apparel -- tights, stockings, panties, shorts and briefs, corsets, hosiery and sleepwear -- could kick in within months if no one successfully opposes it.

Trump could use the names on her products even without the registered trademarks. But by getting the additional protection, she has a stronger legal argument to fend off the use of similar names nationwide and gets increased power to fight knock-offs, including the ability to ask Customs and Border Protection to seize counterfeit goods coming from overseas.

Even if she doesn’t expand into new categories, Trump’s filings offer preemptive protection should she change her mind, according to Michelle Mancino Marsh, an intellectual property attorney specializing in fashion law at the firm Arent Fox. Some celebrities, like Beyonce, file a slew of applications as a protective measure, while others, like Jessica Alba, stick to products they’re actually selling, she said.

“There are some folks who are more prolific than others in protecting their name, it really depends on the ‘paranoia,’ so to speak, of the person or their team,” Marsh said. “You can do it preemptively and proactively file for your name -- it’s an expensive process, but that spares you from having people jump in and then having to deal with squatters.”

The trademarks can only be final once brands show clear intent to use them in commerce, Marsh said.