When Donald Trump made his triumphant trip to the U.S. / Mexico border he was seen wearing one goofy looking hat but, as it turns out, that hat is a valuable intellectual property asset.

Last Thursday, Donald Trump victoriously exited his private jet at the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. Instead of being praised for taking such a brave trip, the world took notice of his ill-fitting hat. The hat featured the phrase “Make America Great Again”. Some people said Trump looked like a train conductor wearing the puffed up hat while others took to Twitter to start at least two Twitter accounts including @trumphat and @ DonaldTrumpHat to detail updates about the hat.

On Friday, the hats were being sold at Trump Tower in New York for $20 a piece and are packaged in a gold foil bag and tied with a ribbon. The hats are proudly made in the United States, of course. The hats are also coming soon to Trump’s website.

The history of the hat logo is just as interesting. (Well, we are using the term “interesting” very liberally here.) In 2012, Trump filed a trademark registration application for the mark MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN in association with promoting public awareness of political issues. The phrase was once used by Ronald Reagan during his first presidential run but that hasn’t stopped Trump from making it his own. At the time the application was filed it was only an intent to use mark and Trump took some time before he used it. Only in May 2015, after several extensions, did Trump finally submit evidence that the trademark was in use. The specimen sample can be seen on the right which is a screenshot from Trump’s website. Just a week before the Donald’s trip to the border was a registration for the mark issued.

As owner of the trademark, Trump can look to exclude other politicians from using the phrase. Also, if some people want to create their own line of hats or clothing bearing the mark, Trump may look to stop them from doing so. While Trump’s campaign may not go on forever, the trademark will as long as Donald uses the mark.

