[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3499 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3499

   To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to allow civil actions against 
  persons who use trademarks that are misleading as to the origin of 
                        goods in certain cases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2009

  Mr. Maffei introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to allow civil actions against 
  persons who use trademarks that are misleading as to the origin of 
                        goods in certain cases.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Trademark Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Trademarks allow quick identification of a seller's 
        product, and can become an indicator of a product's quality. 
        Thus, a trademarked good may command a premium in the 
        marketplace because of its reputation.
            (2) Trademarks that describe some feature or quality of the 
        goods or that are based on someone's name or a geographic term 
        are considered to be ``weak'', and thus are not protectable 
        under trademark law. However, once the trademark owner can 
        demonstrate substantial sales, advertising, or other public 
        awareness of a weak trademark, the trademark will be considered 
        distinctive and can be registered with the United States Patent 
        and Trademark Office (USPTO).
            (3) Syracuse China was an upstate New York manufacturer in 
        the city of Syracuse. The company was founded in 1871 as the 
        Onondaga Pottery Co. and was one of the last major china makers 
        in the United States. On April 9, 2009, after more than 130 
        years in business, Libbey Inc. (of Toledo, Ohio) halted 
        production in Syracuse, eliminating 275 local jobs. Libbey 
        plans to continue selling dinnerware under the name ``Syracuse 
        China'' even after they stop production at the New York-based 
        plant, but the company will manufacture the product in other 
        countries and import them into the United States.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO TRADEMARK ACT.

    (a) False Designations of Origin.--Section 43(a)(1) of the Act 
entitled ``An Act to provide for the registration and protection of 
trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain 
international conventions, and for other purposes'', approved July 5, 
1946 (commonly referred to as the ``Trademark Act of 1946''; 15 U.S.C. 
1125(a)(1)), is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' after the comma 
        at the end;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
            ``(B) is misleadingly misdirective as to origin, or''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 45 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 1127) is 
amended by inserting after the definition of ``Internet'' the 
following:
    ``The term `misleadingly misdirective as to origin' refers to the 
use of a trademark, which has as an exclusive element the name of a 
State or municipality within a State, on or in connection with goods 
that are not or are no longer produced in whole or in part in such 
State or municipality or that do not contain a component produced in 
such State or municipality.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act apply to any civil action brought 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, with respect to any 
cause of action arising on or after that date.
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