House Democrat grills US trademark office on Board of Peace backers

By Blake Brittain

March 18 (Reuters) - The top Democratic ‌member of the ​U.S. House ​Judiciary Committee accused the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday of helping obscure who controls and profits from Republican President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.

U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin said in a letter ‌to USPTO Director John Squires that the agency's unusual move to apply directly for trademarks ⁠covering the board's name and logo appears to have been "used to conceal the existence of legal and financial structures designed to funnel money to ‌the President for his unilateral use."

The ‌Maryland legislator said it raised "serious concerns" that the government agency, rather than representatives of the board, applied for the trademarks. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on the USPTO next Wednesday.

"Within minutes ​of the Administration’s announcement of the Board of Peace initiative, a cyber-squatter had already snatched up the name," a USPTO spokesperson said in a statement. "To preserve these and other important rights, the USPTO acted immediately and unequivocally ⁠in the best interest of the American People. The notion that this publicly-filed and publicly-available application was intended for any other purpose is absurd.”

A Trump administration ​official separately said there was no truth to Raskin's allegations and that the trademark applications were meant to prevent impostors and other bad actors from misusing Board of Peace branding. The official ​also said the board has been transparent, citing its charter and ‌public inaugural meeting.

Trump proposed the Board of Peace in September when he announced his plan to end Israel's war in Gaza. Member states would be limited to three-year terms unless ⁠they pay $1 billion each to fund the board's activities and earn permanent membership, its charter said.

The board's official X account listed more than two dozen countries as founding members, including Washington's main Middle Eastern allies.

Raskin said in his letter that the board appears to operate ⁠as an "unsupervised international slush fund" for Trump.

The board's charter says it undertakes "peace-building functions in accordance with international law." Its envoys met with ​Hamas representatives this past weekend in an effort to safeguard the Gaza ceasefire.

The USPTO issues federal trademarks for applicants to use in commerce. Trademarks, including brand names, logos and slogans, are used to identify the sources of goods.

The office itself owns only seven active ‌trademarks related to its name and initiatives. It applied in January for two new trademarks covering the Board of Peace name and logo.

USPTO examiners have not started reviewing the ‌applications.

Raskin demanded information on Wednesday from the office about who was behind the decision for the USPTO to file the applications.

Raskin also ⁠expressed concern that the Trump administration could use ‌the trademarks to sue critics for ​infringement.

"Trademarks exist to protect consumers and businesses," Raskin said. "They do not exist to silence objectors to a governmental administration."

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario, Mark Porter, Rod Nickel, ‌David Gaffen)

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