Kai Trump is facing a legal challenge on her trademark application for "KAI" on clothing.
Kai Trump is the eldest grandchild of President Donald Trump and has already taken after him in her love for golf and leaning into her name as a brand.
Kai Collective, a United Kingdom-based clothing company, filed a "Notice of Opposition" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 22, arguing that it has been selling clothes under the "KAI" brand since April 2021.
Kai Trump filed her trademark application before the collective filed theirs in Februrary, and the latter was suspended while the opposition gets resolved. But Gerben IP's founder Josh Gerben, first writing about the challenge in a July 23 blog post, said that the clothing brand still might
be able to argue it has trademark rights if it sold its clothes under the "KAI" brand first. USA TODAY reached out to representatives for the Kai Collective and Kai Trump, but did not immediately hear back. "So (Kai Collective) would have to go through a process of proving that they in fact had active and ongoing US sales for the last five years ... if they can prove that, they have a pretty strong case here to blocking her registration for clothing products," Gerben told USA TODAY.
"(Kai Trump is) doing the right thing," Gerben said, remarking on the move to file for a trademark as a young influencer. "She's really taken a step out of the family's playbook here."
What does Kai Trump have a trademark for?
Kai Trump's trademark application, filed Oct. 7, 2025, covered "KAI" for clothing, entertainment and education. The opposition filed by Kai Collective only applies to the clothing aspect of her application.
Trump announced her clothing collection, starting with sweatshirts with her initials on them, in September. The brand's website currently says the pre-sale has ended and orders are being filled by American companies.
Trump is also a social media personality, with more than 8 million followers and subscribers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. She focuses on golf content as an aspiring golf pro.
Trump's team, represented by the same attorney who files trademark applications for the Trump Organization, according to Gerben, has until Sept. 20 to file an Answer to the "Notice of Opposition." Gerben also wrote that these trademark cases frequently settle to avoid long litigation.
How is Kai Trump related to Donald Trump?
Kai Trump, 19, is President Donald Trump's eldest granddaughter, the daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and his ex-wife Vanessa Trump. (Trump Jr. is now married to Bettina Trump, a Palm Beach-area socialite. Vanessa Trump is dating golf legend Tiger Woods.) Kai Trump recently graduated from Benjamin School in the Palm Beach area of Florida and plans to play golf at the University of Miami for college.
In February 2025, Kai Trump became the highest-valued player in girls’ high school golf, after announcing her first lucrative endorsement deal with big-name golf equipment company TaylorMade.
While she may share her love of golf with her grandfather, she said at the ESPYs she wants to "stay out of politics completely. It’s just not (her) thing."
Contributing: Jennifer Sangalang, Michelle Del Rey, USA TODAY Network
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kai Trump's trademark for clothing brand challenged by UK company
