[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6695 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6695

To clarify that the licensing of a mark, and any control or exercise of 
control thereof for certain purposes, does not create an employment or 
         principal-agent relationship, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 31, 2018

Mr. Chabot (for himself and Mr. Cuellar) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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                                 A BILL


 
To clarify that the licensing of a mark, and any control or exercise of 
control thereof for certain purposes, does not create an employment or 
         principal-agent relationship, 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 ``Trademark Licensing Protection Act 
of 2018''.

SEC. 2. LICENSING OF MARKS FOR USE BY RELATED COMPANIES.

    Title I 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 (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.), commonly 
referred to as the ``Trademark Act of 1946'' or the ``Lanham Act'' is 
amended by adding after section 5 the following new section:

           ``licensing of marks for use by related companies

    ``Sec. 5A.  (a) The licensing of a mark for use by a related 
company, and any control or exercise of control over thereof for the 
purpose of preserving the goodwill, reputation, uniformity, or 
expectation of the public of the nature and quality of goods or 
services associated with the mark, may not be construed as establishing 
an employment or principal-agent relationship between the owner of the 
mark and the related company.
    ``(b) For the purposes of this section, the term `employment or 
principal-agent relationship' means any type of joint employer 
relationship, single employer relationship, alter ego relationship, 
successorship relationship, or other employment-related or principal-
agent liability status or relationship.''.
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