Chinese companies clambering to trademark Ivanka Trump's name for themselves

The name "Ivanka" is quickly getting popular in China it seems.

Chinese companies have submitted at least 65 applications to use Ivanka Trump's name as a trademark for their products, reported the South China Morning Post.

An additional 40 companies have registered their corporate identities under the name Ivanka, as listed by a search on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

These firms belong to diverse industries, from selling undergarments to seafood.

A quick search on China's largest e-commerce platform Taobao also reveals a raft of products already being sold under the "Ivanka" brand.

China's laws allow for businesses to use foreign names, or the Chinese translation of them, as trademarks.

The daughter of US President Donald Trump already runs a fashion business under her name.

Since 2012, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC owns the rights to use the name "Ivanka" for shoes and clothing in China.

The company has since filed more applications for jewellery, bags and other products.

But other firms keen on "Ivanka" for unrelated products may well stand a chance at owning a piece of the brand.

Trump himself had for years struggled to win back the rights to his name in the Asian country.

A Chinese construction firm had earlier secured a 10-year trademark on "Trump."

But just last week, China gave Trump his long sought after trademark.

Read also: Sales of Ivanka Trump apparel slump nearly a third at Nordstrom

This happened after Trump's meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, in which he endorsed the One China policy - after previously angering China by saying it was "negotiable."

So far, Trump has yet to comment on Chinese businesses trademarking his daughter's name, though he has in the past come to her defence.

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