# Details of an old Donald Trump lawsuit **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335 "2016-06-02T19:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/1 "2016-06-02T19:30:16Z")
Back in the '70s or '80s, I vaguely remember a case involving Donald Trump. There was a small grocery store owned by a couple whose name was also Trump. The store was called “Trump’s” or “Trump’s Grocery.” The Donald claimed exclusive ownership of the name, so sued them. He claimed the public associated the name with him, so they would assume he was connected to the store. A dickish attitude if there ever was one. With the help of expensive lawyers, he won the case. I can’t find any information about this. Was there an appeal? What became of the store, and the couple? Did they change the name to “Obama’s” and succeed beyond their wildest expectations? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/2 "2016-06-02T19:39:06Z")
[There’s this case.](http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150806/BLOGS02/150809914/the-notorious-case-of-the-donald-vs-trump) Not a small store but a drug store chain. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/3 "2016-06-02T19:42:06Z")
I don’t remember that one, but back in the 80’s he sued a company named “Trump Cards” that produced photo business cards. [Magnate Sues Tiny Firm Over Use of 'Trump Cards'](http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-07/business/fi-3448_1_trump-cards) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/4 "2016-06-02T21:40:15Z")
Oddly similar to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=432747). ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/5 "2016-06-03T01:51:41Z")
According to an article in [USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/01/donald-trump-lawsuits-legal-battles/84995854/), Donald Trump has been involved in 3,500 lawsuits. I am not sure how many are currently still ongoing. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/6 "2016-06-03T03:50:15Z")
[Here](http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150806/BLOGS02/150809914/the-notorious-case-of-the-donald-vs-trump) is an article that gives details. > [@](#): > > It all began with a letter sent to the Trump Organization on Sept. 11, 1984, from the publisher of Drug Store News. “Welcome to the chain drug store industry,” read the letter inviting Mr. Trump to subscribe to the trade publication…Donald Trump wasn’t interested in the drug-store industry, but two businessmen named Julius and Edmond Trump were. Their Trump Group had just bid $360 million to buy a drug-store chain called Pay 'n Save. It was the businessmen who go by the names Jules and Eddie Trump who should have gotten the solicitation from the publisher. > > A day after the letter was sent, Donald Trump’s lawyer, Roy Cohn, demanded that the Trump Group change its name by the following day or they would face consequences. A little while later, Donald Trump sued Julius and Edmond Trump in New York state court, alleging they were nothing but a pair of late-arriving immigrants trying to piggyback on his good name. > > “Plaintiffs have used the Trump family name for 40 to 50 years in the New York area. More recently, the Trump Organization has come to stand for respectability and success across the United States,” the complaint read. > > It went on: “The defendants are South Africans whose recent entrance in the New York area utilizing the name ‘the Trump Group’ can only be viewed as a poorly veiled attempt at trading on the goodwill, reputation and financial credibility of the plaintiff.” The result? [Here](http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1500196) is a Bloomberg listed for The Trump Group. Mr. Edmond Trump is listed as co-Founder,co-chairman, and President. Jules Trump is co-founder, Partner, and co-Chairman. Donald’s case was thrown out. > [@](#): > > The case lingered in court for nearly five years. Finally, in 1989, a state judge put an end to the silliness, striking down Donald Trump’s last stab at securing a judgment against the Trump Group. The judge also refused the defendants’ request for monetary damages for the hassle caused by the lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/7 "2016-06-03T13:26:24Z")
Hm, so he even managed to get in some anti-immigrant digs, there. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/8 "2016-06-03T13:39:52Z")
You can see why Trump was onto it, though. Trump trades off his name to a much greater extent than most businesses. (In his own assessment of his net worth, he assigns $3B to the name “Trump”.) He would naturally be more zealous about someone else confusing the public’s perception of that name than another business would be. > [@Chronos](#): > > Hm, so he even managed to get in some anti-immigrant digs, there. I don’t think so. The context there is completely different. He was just bolstering his claim that these people were trading off his name. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/details-of-an-old-donald-trump-lawsuit/756335/9 "2016-06-03T21:20:47Z")
I’m positive the case I mentioned in the OP was a family grocery store, not a drug chain. Is there no record of it?