The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied a trademark request for former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social.
The denial was uncovered and published by Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer in Washington, D.C.
The USPTO has refused Donald Trump’s trademark application for “TRUTH SOCIAL.”
The basis of the refusal is the existence of multiple pre-existing “TRUTH” trademarks.
Trump will have 6 months to file a response and argue against the refusal. #DonaldTrump #TruthSocial pic.twitter.com/mPBLbQ1V3d
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) August 25, 2022
In the notice of denial from August 2, the trademark office cited social media app Vero — True Social and the Truth Network, a Christian radio platform.
The patent office noted that both of those companies use “true” and “truth” as the dominant wording in their names and said that they “communicate the same idea of being honest or emphasizing fact while networking socially.”
The government agency said that Truth Social’s name is too similar and could be “confused, mistaken or deceived as to the commercial source of the goods and/or services of the parties.”
Trump may be able to negotiate with those companies and will have until February to appeal the decision.
Truth Social has faced multiple set backs in recent months.
In June, a company planning to buy the platform said that the deal may collapse as they have been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury. The deal is also already being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission after allegations that the companies may have violated merger laws, according to a report from Business Insider.
Truth Social was created after the former president was banned from Twitter and most other mainstream platforms.
The Daily Mail reports that Truth Social has also been accused of owing more than a million dollars for the platform’s web-hosting service.
