H.R. 6215 (112th): To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to correct an error in the provisions relating to remedies for dilution.

Introduced:
Jul 26, 2012 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. Lamar Smith [R-TX21]
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 112-190.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on October 5, 2012.

Progress
Introduced Jul 26, 2012
Referred to Committee Jul 26, 2012
Reported by Committee Aug 01, 2012
Passed House Sep 11, 2012
Passed Senate Sep 22, 2012
Signed by the President Oct 05, 2012
Cosponsors
none
Committees

House Judiciary

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jan 01, 2012.
1 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

10/5/2012--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on September 11, 2012.
The summary of that version is repeated here.) Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to specify that ownership of a valid federal registration of a mark is a complete bar to an action with respect to the mark that:
(1) is brought by another person under the common law or a statute of a state; and
(2) seeks to prevent dilution (by blurring or by tarnishment) or asserts any claim of actual or likely damage or harm to the distinctiveness or reputation of a mark, label, or form of advertisement.
(Removes any such federal-registration defense with respect to dilution claims under federal law and specifies that such a defense is only available in response to dilution claims under state law.)

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hr6215.

Background

Under current law, the owner of a famous trademark can bring a suit against another trademark owner alleging dilution when the other trademark impairs the distinctiveness or harms the reputation of the famous trademark. For example, the owner of a trademark for a famous handbag could sue another company that begins using the trademark to refer to laundry detergent. However, certain dilution claims are disallowed in both federal and state courts if the person being sued holds a registered trademark. H.R. 6215 would continue the prohibition of those claims in state courts, but allow the claims to go forward in federal court.

Summary

H.R. 6215 would correct a 2006 clerical error in the Federal Trademark Dilution Act.  Left uncorrected, the technical error could encourage owners of phony trademarks to compromise the worth of famous and distinctive marks that are otherwise protected by the law. 

Cost

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing H.R. 6215 would have no significant cost to the federal government.  Further, enacting H.R. 6215 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)