- Trump's attempt to trademark his Truth Social platform's name has been rejected.
- The patent office said the company's name was far too similar to other companies.
- This included the Vero — True Social platform and the Truth Network, a Christian radio outfit.
Former President Donald Trump has run into a significant setback with trademarking the name for his social media platform, Truth Social.
According to a filing released this month and tweeted by Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer, Trump's social media app had its application refused by the US Patent and Trademark Office because its name bore too much resemblance to the names of other business entities.
The patent office found that Trump's company name was "confusingly similar" to other entities, including Vero — True Social, an app-based social media platform, and the Truth Network, a Christian radio broadcast network.
Among the patent office's concerns was that Truth Social's name bore the "same dominant feature" — the word "Truth" — as the Truth Network. In relation to Vero — True Social, the patent office wrote that the "dominant wording TRUTH and TRUE communicate the same idea of being honest or emphasizing fact while networking socially."
"Moreover, both marks also contain the wording SOCIAL meaning they look and sound similar generally outside of a small variation of TRUTH," read the filing.
"Because the marks are similar and the goods and services are related, there is a likelihood of confusion as to the source of applicant's goods and services, and registration is refused pursuant to Section 2(d) of the Trademark Act," the filing concluded.
Trump has until February 2023 to respond to the filing.
This is not the first setback Trump's social media platform has faced. In June, the company buying Truth Social warned that the deal might fall through because of a slew of grand jury subpoenas it received. The planned merger of Digital World Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, and Truth Social is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Built by the Trump Media and Technology Group, Truth Social strongly resembles Twitter, which permanently suspended Trump's account in January 2021. Truth Social was also plagued by technical difficulties shortly after its launch in February — with potential users placed on waitlists after finding themselves unable to create accounts.