As Democratic presidential primaries begin, candidates secure IP protection

Most applications so far are from the Bloomberg and Buttigieg campaigns

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden face the most unauthorised applications to date

The Democratic Party presidential primaries are now in full swing, with the main contenders fiercely competing for support as major voting contests loom. An analysis from WTR has found that, when it comes to the brand protection of the current Democratic challengers, Michael Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg are ahead of the rest of the field – with Bernie Sanders facing the highest level of unauthorised third-party trademark activity.

At the time of writing, the Ohio and New Hampshire nominating contests have taken place during the ongoing 2020 Democratic presidential primary. In the next couple of weeks, more contests are on the cards, including so-called ‘Super Tuesday’ – when 14 states will vote or caucus all in one day. So far, Pete Buttigieg is narrowly leading Bernie Sanders in terms of delegates, although it is early days and the picture is set to become clearer in the weeks ahead. The field is also narrowing – what was once a field of 29 Democratic presidential candidates is now just eight. One thing is certain: one of the remaining candidates will face off against US President Donald Trump in the 2020 US presidential election.

This election campaign is expected to be a bitter, expensive one. Recent figures have shown that candidate (and billionaire) Michael Bloomberg has already spent over $200 million on campaign advertising, with candidate Tom Steyer (also a billionaire) approaching £130 million in ad spend. Other big spending Democratic candidates include Buttigieg ($23 million in ad spend), Sanders ($21 million), Warren ($14 million), Biden ($10 million) and Klobuchar ($6 million). For his part, Trump (also a billionaire) and affiliated groups have spent approximately £40 million on advertising so far.

Big money, public interest and high profile individuals create the perfect conditions for fraudsters and brand protection challenges that can damage both candidates and voters. For example, a common tactic is the setting up of fake donation webpages purporting to be from a candidate, or fake social media pages claiming to be from (or on behalf of) a campaign. Some of these issues have become prevalent – for example, last year, one of Trump’s reelection consultants published websites disguised as official platforms for Democratic candidates (some of which are still active).