DESPERATELY SEEKING IVANKA
From diet pills to underwear, Chinese firms scramble to link their products to President Trump’s daughter
I think her name will be very helpful for the publicity of our brand and products.
China is still coming to terms with Donald Trump, but his daughter Ivanka has never been more popular here.
Chinese companies have been scrambling to add her name to their products since her father won the U.S. presidential election in November. There’s even a new Chinese cosmetic-surgery firm offering the chance to look a little more like her.
An incredible 258 trademark applications were lodged under variations of Ivanka, Ivanka Trump and similar-sounding Chinese characters between Nov. 10 and the end of last year, records at the China Trademark Office show.
None appears to have a direct business link with the U.S. president’s daughter.
The trademark applications cover a dizzying array of products including diet pills, anti-wrinkle cream, spa services, massage machines, cosmetic surgery, underwear and sanitary napkins.
Then there are applications for women’s blouses, jewelry, swimwear and towels, as well for a whole range of products that seem to bear little relation to the business executive and former model: milk powder, canned food, honey, candy, coffee, wine and beer; mirrors, mattresses and sofas; medical equipment; and even agricultural technology.
Ivanka, of course, has her own line of fashion items and has registered nine trademarks in China, with 26 applications pending and three rejected. Her applications include such items as skin care and cleansing products, leather goods, purses, suitcases, umbrellas, dresses and other clothes, and computer software.
Ivanka’s pending applications were all submitted in May and June last year by Chinese attorneys Chang Tsi & Partners.
But many other companies want to take advantage of her fame.
Li Jun, the founder of Foshan Bainuo Sanitary Products, has applied for the trademark for Chinese characters for a range of women’s sanitary napkins, underwear and incontinence pads, using the usual transliteration of Ivanka’s name in Chinese, yiwanka (pronounced ee-wan-ka).
“I first saw her giving a speech on television to support her father’s election,” he said.
“I was captivated by her incomparable disposition and air, even the way she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her speech was full of elegance and charisma.”
Ivanka was popular even before the election, admired for her fashion sense and what Chinese Netizens call her “goddess” good looks.
A video of her young daughter, Arabella, reciting a Chinese poem to celebrate Chinese New Year in 2016 went viral on the Internet here after the election, garnering nearly nine million views.
Ivanka won more fans when she and Arabella visited the Chinese Embassy in Washington to celebrate Chinese New Year this month.
“I think her name will be very helpful for the publicity of our brand and products, because I believe she is a very positive role model for all women,” Li said.
Other applications have been lodged for “Ivanka,” “Ivanka Trump,” and a few for Chinese characters that also spell yiwanka.
Another company in the southern city of Foshan had the foresight to register its name — Foshan Yiwanka Medical Management — just before the election. With just 15 employees, it offers cosmetic surgery around the eyes and nose, as well as liposuction and breast enlargement, said human resources manager Li Yunxing.
“Young women in China like to change their looks to copy film stars’ eyes, noses and lips,” he said. “No doubt young women here want Ivanka’s big eyes, her pretty nose and lips and her flawless figure.
“Her facial features, disposition and appearance are perfect,” Li added, “no matter whether they are judged by the beauty standards of the East or the West.”
Taking advantage of — or faking — foreign brands is common in China, as is the practice of “trademark squatting,” whereby someone pre-emptively registers a spurious trademark claim in the hope they will later be paid to relinquish it.
Whether any of these trademark claims will be successful is another matter entirely.
China’s enforcement of trademarks has been brought closer to global standards in recent years, and in January the Supreme People’s Court issued guidelines specifically outlawing use of the names of public figures involved in politics, economics, culture and religion.
In December, the court also revoked the right of sportswear-maker Qiaodan Sports to use Michael Jordan’s last name written in Chinese characters, ruling that Jordan is “well recognized” here and should have the legal right to his name.
At Foshan Bainuo Sanitary Products, Li said he realized there was a possibility his trademark application would be rejected. “But I have to try,” he said. “I can’t let go of such a good name from this influential woman for our sanitary napkins.”
President Trump has also waged several battles to trademark his own brand name in China, winning an appeal last year to claim the “TRUMP” name for construction services from a man named Dong Wei, who had held the trademark for a decade, apparently without using it.