Trump Continues to Struggle with that Pesky 1st Amendment Thingy

Diogenes Middle Finger

Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened legal action against a politically oriented clothing outlet for using the GOP front-runner’s name, which is trademarked, in its domain name and merchandise. But unlike efforts to protect his brand, Trump’s move to stifle political speech stands on more shaky legal footing. 

“Trump does not have a legitimate claim here,” Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who specializes in First Amendment. If this were ever litigated, which seems unlikely, the owners of StopTrump.us might also feel inclined to raise the First Amendment as a defense, Volokh said. But the trademark law that applies here “has been written and has been interpreted with an eye toward the First Amendment,” he added. 

So it looks like this is a losing case for Trump, who appears to be on a cease-and-desist binge lately. On Tuesday, a lawyer for the magnate’s campaign threatened “a multimillion dollar lawsuit” against the conservative Club For Growth in response to a political ad attacking the candidate. 

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