“Ivana” Trademark will not Trump Finnish Designer

San Diego, CA – Ivana Trump has reached an agreement with Finnish clothing designer Paola Suhonen concerning trademark use.

Back in 2010, the ex-wife of “The Donald” filed suit against the Finnish fashion house with claims that it was attempting to trick consumers “into the erroneous belief ” that she (Trump) is somehow connected to its “IVANAHelsinki” clothing line. The suit sought unspecified damages for trademark infringement, unfair competition and violations of privacy and publicity rights.

Paola Suhonen refused to comply Trump’s demands alleging that consumers would not likely be confused or mislead. In fact, Trump had abandoned her clothing line many years ago and in 2006 she abandoned her federal trademark registration for clothing. Trump’s only argument was that the Finnish company was seeking to capitalize on her famous branded name, “Ivana.”

The parties ultimately reached a settlement wherein Suhonen agreed to slightly alter the trademark by putting a space between the two words, i.e., “IVANA Helsinki”. Considering that the addition or deletion of a space has little to no effect on a likelihood of confusion analysis, it appears that Ivana Trump tired of litigating and decided to end the matter on any terms agreeable to the other side. This is understandable because the case appeared questionable to begin with.