An amateur musician who developed an iPhone app designed to teach people how to play the trumpet has won a six-year legal battle against US president Donald Trump.
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Tom Scharfeld, the 40-year-old creator of iTrump didn’t even use a lawyer, but instead opted to represent himself in court.
Although he was up against the well-resourced and highly influential Trump Organization, Scharfeld taught himself copyright law.
He told the court that Merriam-Webster’s dictionary lists “trump” as a substitute for trumpet. Trump’s lawyers “didn’t seem to respect that I could do this,” Scharfeld said.
We won all the claims and defeated those against us.
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The clash between the Trump Organization and Scharfeld reaches back to January 2011, when the billionaire’s lawyers said the app’s name was a violation of the Trump trademark.
Six years later, the Trump Organization has ended up in a far worse position than it could have ever imagined as a result of a lawsuit it expected to win.
The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has now cancelled Trump’s New York-headquartered company’s exclusive right to use Trump not just in apps and music streaming, but in relation to entertainment services, including reality TV shows.
Sad!
