[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 187 (Monday, November 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5676-H5677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          NO STOLEN TRADEMARKS HONORED IN AMERICA ACT OF 2023

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 1505) to modify the prohibition on recognition by United States 
courts of certain rights relating to certain marks, trade names, or 
commercial names, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1505

       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 ``No Stolen Trademarks Honored 
     in America Act of 2023''.

     SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROHIBITION.

       Section 211 of the Department of Commerce and Related 
     Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (as contained in section 
     101(b) of division A of Public Law 105-277; 112 Stat. 2681-
     88) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(2)--
       (A) by inserting ``or entity of the executive branch'' 
     after ``U.S. court'';
       (B) by striking ``by a designated national''; and
       (C) by inserting before the period ``that was used in 
     connection with a business or assets that were confiscated 
     unless the original owner of the mark, trade name, or 
     commercial name, or the bonafide successor-in-interest has 
     expressly consented'';
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) by inserting ``or entity of the executive branch'' 
     after ``U.S. court''; and
       (B) by striking ``by a designated national or its 
     successor-in-interest'';
       (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e);
       (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
       ``(d) Subsections (a)(2) and (b) of this section shall 
     apply only if the person or entity asserting the rights knew 
     or had reason to know at the time when the person or entity 
     acquired the rights asserted that the mark, trade name, or 
     commercial name was the same as or substantially similar to a 
     mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in 
     connection with a business or assets that were 
     confiscated.''; and
       (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by striking ``In 
     this section:'' and all that follows through ``(2) The term'' 
     and inserting ``In this section, the term''.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to insert extraneous material on H.R. 1505.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is hard for the American people to believe, but it is 
true that foreign actors--foreign countries--have, in fact, stolen 
trademarks, absconded with the actual factories and the ability to 
produce various items and then had the gall to, in fact, use American 
law to sell America products that they in reality had already stolen.
  This is no more truer than in the case of the communist nation of 
Cuba.
  Under Fidel Castro, Cuba took everything. They took Coca-Cola. They 
took every possible item they could take, and then they took trade 
names. In some cases, like Coca-Cola, Coke continued to be produced in 
the United States, so it had no rights.
  In the case of Bacardi, Bacardi moved to Puerto Rico and began making 
it there and selling it in the United States. In the case of, for 
example, Havana Club, they found themselves without any factories, so 
they worked together with other producers to continue their brand. 
While their brand was, in fact, being produced in America, the Castro 
regime--and now the Cuban Government--continued to apply year after 
year until eventually, due to what we would consider to be a wrongful 
act by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, awarded this 
country, who had stolen and still to this day uses the factories and 
the lands belonging to the family that produced Havana Club, they 
continue to sell Havana Club.
  Now, to make matters worse, we are only talking about the United 
States because most of the world, in fact, took that brand name and was 
able to sell it in other countries. So the family that owned worldwide 
rights lost all but the United States, and if not for this piece of 
legislation, they and others would lose even their right here.
  I am delighted to join with my colleague, Ms. Wasserman Schultz of 
Florida, to introduce this bill. It has 17 cosponsors, and it passed 
through the Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan basis.
  We all agree that the U.S. Government should not award those who 
steal and exploit trademarks or any other intellectual property from 
its legitimate owners to then benefit from U.S. law. Allowing Cuba to 
propagate its misappropriations would be and is currently a travesty.

[[Page H5677]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1505, the No Stolen Trademarks 
Honored in America Act.
  H.R. 1505 would build on existing law to ensure that executive 
agencies do not recognize, enforce, or otherwise validate the assertion 
of trademark rights used in connection with a business whose assets 
were confiscated by the Cuban regime unless the original owner 
expressly consented to the transfer of that mark. It also makes 
technical amendments to ensure that we are in compliance with certain 
international obligations.
  This legislation largely involves a long-running dispute over the 
rightful ownership of a specific trademark that has played out over the 
course of many decades. It is a tale with more twists and turns than a 
John Grisham novel.
  This bill is really about a much larger principle--that we stand with 
the Cuban people whose property was seized by the Castro regime, and we 
will not give the protection and benefits of the U.S. trademark system 
to the holders of stolen property. Our trademark system must not be 
allowed to be a vehicle for the perpetrators of stolen property to 
profit from their theft.
  I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) and the gentlewoman 
from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) for bringing this legislation 
forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support it, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz), the cosponsor of this 
legislation.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding and for his longstanding support of this important legislation 
that really reflects the values that we stand for here in the United 
States of America.
  I particularly thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for the 
back and forth--depending on who is in the majority in our Chamber in 
each successive Congress--as we sort of trade responsibility for who 
leads this bill.
  In addition, I have also previously co-led this legislation with our 
former colleague, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Diaz-
Balart also joins us, as well. There is really broad bipartisan support 
for this bill, and I am so proud to lead this legislation on the 
Democratic side of the aisle.
  This legislation would ensure that our government is never complicit 
in theft and expropriation ordered by autocracies.
  By prohibiting U.S. recognition of illegally confiscated trademarks, 
this bill stands strongly against attempts by the Cuban regime to 
profit from hijacked intellectual property.
  Representing a diaspora community as I do, I have heard countless 
constituents recount how their home countries stripped them of hard-
earned wealth.

  Many Cuban families had to start from scratch when they arrived. They 
had property and their businesses confiscated.
  Our Nation has benefited immeasurably from their cultural 
contributions and entrepreneurial spirit.
  We are not just a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of 
innovators. We should always reward creativity and punish piracy.
  Our most fundamental responsibility is protecting Americans and those 
living in our country from being victimized by our adversaries.
  Our failure to do so would only embolden global despots who seek to 
target their exiles.
  I hope my colleagues join us in refusing to tolerate trademarks being 
held hostage, as this one is in particular, and the many others that 
are held hostage by the Cuban regime and other regimes, as well. I am 
hopeful that our friends on the other side of the Capitol, once we send 
this bill to them, will send it to the President of the United States 
for his signature.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, this legislation makes a minor clarification 
to our trademark laws while serving notice to corrupt regimes across 
the world that America's intellectual property system must not be used 
to further their efforts to steal property from their own people.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will make it very clear, if this 
product's trademark becomes available to its rightful owners again, the 
well-known company Bacardi will, in fact, have this product on the 
shelves again. If it is not passed, Cuba will not be able to sell under 
this name. In fact, these products would be prohibited if they came 
from Cuba.
  The only purpose of Cuba trying to take this was to deny Cuban 
Americans the ability to sell a product that they owned before it was 
taken from the country.
  There was an injustice that occurred before many in this room were 
born. We can only cure that injustice now by, in fact, passing this 
legislation.
  I join with the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) in 
urging all to vote for this bill as they have in this body, and then we 
will work on the people across the dome.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1505, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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