[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 684 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 684

   To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 regarding the disparagement of 
  Native American persons or peoples through marks that use the term 
                  ``redskin'', and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2015

 Mr. Honda (for himself, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Caardenas, Ms. Slaughter, 
Ms. Edwards, Ms. Brown of Florida, Ms. Lee, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lewis, Ms. 
 Moore, Ms. Bass, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Norton, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Brady of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Takano, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. 
Kilmer, Mr. Ellison, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Nolan, Mr. Takai, Mr. Carson of 
    Indiana, Ms. Clarke of New York, and Ms. Fudge) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 regarding the disparagement of 
  Native American persons or peoples through marks that use the term 
                  ``redskin'', and for other purposes.

    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 ``Non-Disparagement of Native American 
Persons or Peoples in Trademark Registration Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The use of the terms ``redskin'' and ``redskins'' in 
        trademarks is widely understood to refer to or imply a negative 
        reference to Native American persons or peoples, or both.
            (2) The term ``redskin'' has been demonstrated by 
        overwhelming linguistic and historical evidence to constitute a 
        disparaging epithet insulting to Native American persons or 
        peoples, or both.
            (3) Major Native American organizations, including the 
        National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian 
        Education Association, the Native American Journalists 
        Association, the Native American Rights Fund, the Morning Star 
        Institute, the International Indian Treaty Council, and the 
        National Indian Youth Council, have opposed the continued use 
        of the term ``redskin'' in trademarks or as the name of sports 
        teams.
            (4) Recent psychological evidence has demonstrated the 
        general negative effects associated with references in sports 
        to Native American people.
            (5) Trademarks containing the term ``redskin'', or any 
        derivation of the term, should not continue to enjoy the 
        benefits of Federal registration.

SEC. 3. REFERENCES TO TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.

    In this Act, the term ``Trademark Act of 1946'' means 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 ``Lanham Act''; 15 U.S.C. 1051 et 
seq.).

SEC. 4. REGISTRATION OF MARKS CONTAINING CERTAIN TERMS.

    Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1052(a)), is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``A mark consisting of or 
including the term `redskin' or any derivation of the term `redskin' 
shall be conclusively presumed to consist of matter which may disparage 
persons if (1) the mark has been, is, or is intended to be used in 
commerce in connection with references to or images of one or more 
Native American persons or peoples, or to Native American persons or 
peoples in general; or (2) the Director determines that the term as 
included in the mark is commonly understood to refer to one or more 
Native American persons or peoples, or to Native American persons or 
peoples in general.''.

SEC. 5. CANCELLATION OF MARKS.

    Section 14 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1064), is 
amended--
            (1) in the text before paragraph (1), by striking ``A 
        petition to cancel'' and inserting ``(a) Petitions To Cancel.--
        A petition to cancel''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Cancellation of Marks Containing Certain Terms.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this Act, the Director shall cancel a registration of a mark 
        containing the term `redskin' or any derivation of the term 
        `redskin' if--
                    ``(A) the mark has been or is used in commerce in 
                connection with references to or images of one or more 
                Native American persons or peoples, or to Native 
                American persons or peoples in general; or
                    ``(B) the Director determines that the term as 
                included in the mark is commonly understood to refer to 
                one or more Native American persons or peoples, or to 
                Native American persons or peoples in general.
            ``(2) Renewal.--A registration cancelled under paragraph 
        (1) shall not be subject to renewal pursuant to section 9 of 
        this Act.''.

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Cancellation Due to Blurring or Dilution by Tarnishment.--
Section 2(f) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1052(f)), is 
amended in the last sentence by striking ``section 14'' and inserting 
``section 14(a)''.
    (b) Exception to Incontestability.--Section 15 of such Act (15 
U.S.C. 1065) is amended in the text before paragraph (1) by striking 
``section 14 of this Act,'' and inserting ``section 14(a) of this Act 
or for which a registration is required to be cancelled under section 
14(b) of this Act,''.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act 
and shall apply to--
            (1) any mark that is registered under the Trademark Act of 
        1946 before, on, or after such date; and
            (2) any application to register a mark under that Act that 
        is pending on, or filed on or after, such date.
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