[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2908-S2909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5851. Mr. CRUZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. PROTECT ACT.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the 
     ``Preservation of Rights and Ownership of Traditional 
     Emblems, Crests, and Tributes Act'' or the ``PROTECT Act''.
       (b) Registration of Trademarks.--
       (1) In general.--Section 2 of the Act entitled ``An Act to 
     provide for the registration

[[Page S2909]]

     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 known as 
     the ``Trademark Act of 1946'') (15 U.S.C. 1052), is amended--
       (A) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g);
       (B) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
       ``(f) Is authorized, issued, or controlled by the 
     Government for the purposes of Department of Defense or Armed 
     Forces awards, decorations, campaign and service ribbons, or 
     medals, except that such a mark may be registered at the 
     discretion of the agency or department of the Government that 
     controls the official use of the mark.''; and
       (C) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
       (i) in the first sentence, by striking ``and (e)(5)'' and 
     inserting ``(e)(5), and (f)''; and
       (ii) by adding at the end the following: ``Nothing in 
     subsection (f) may be construed to prohibit the continued use 
     of a mark on or after the date of enactment of the 
     Preservation of Rights and Ownership of Traditional Emblems, 
     Crests, and Tributes Act by any person or entity, including a 
     nonprofit organization, if that person or entity was using 
     that mark before that date of enactment and that use was 
     lawful before that date of enactment, except that, on and 
     after that date of enactment, no person or entity other than 
     an agency or department of the Government described in that 
     subsection may register such a mark on the principal 
     register.''.
       (2) Technical and conforming amendments.--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 known as the ``Trademark Act 
     of 1946'') (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.), is amended--
       (A) in section 1(d)(1) (15 U.S.C. 1051(d)(1)), by striking 
     ``subsections (a) through (e) of section 2'' and inserting 
     ``subsections (a) through (f) of section 2''; and
       (B) in section 26 (15 U.S.C. 1094), by striking ``2(f)'' 
     and inserting ``2(g)''.
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