No matter what course U.S. president-elect Donald Trump takes with China, he starts out with at least one loss in his tangles with Beijing authorities.

Despite waging a long court battle, Trump failed to trademark his own name in the construction industry on the mainland.

A Liaoning construction firm unrelated to Trump's businesses beat him to the punch in November 2006, trademarking the Trump name just two weeks before the U.S. businessman filed his own application, according to a Beijing court ruling last year. The ruling was only recently published in an online court archive.



The Trademark Office of China's State Administration of Industry and Commerce said it turned down Trump's application because it closely resembled the trademark of the Liaoning firm in "construction and factory building," which could provide similar services.

Trump applied to the office for a review of the ruling but the agency upheld its initial finding.