No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act

This bill modifies the bar against U.S. courts enforcing or validating trademarks that were confiscated by the Cuban government.

The bill prohibits U.S. courts from enforcing or validating such confiscated trademarks if the mark had been used in connection with a confiscated business or asset. Currently, the prohibition applies only if the confiscated trademark is being asserted in the United States by a Cuban national.

Under the bill, the prohibition shall not apply if the original trademark owner, or a successor, has expressly consented to the enforcement action.

The prohibition shall apply only if the entity asserting the trademark rights knew or should have known, when it acquired the rights, that the mark was the same or substantially similar to one connected to a confiscated business or asset.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1683 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1683

  To modify the prohibition on recognition by United States courts of 
 certain rights relating to certain marks, trade names, or commercial 
                                 names.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2019

  Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Deutch, Mr. 
Diaz-Balart, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Frankel, Mr. Waltz, Mr. Soto, 
 and Ms. Shalala) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To modify the prohibition on recognition by United States courts of 
 certain rights relating to certain marks, trade names, or commercial 
                                 names.

    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''.

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 striking ``by a designated national''; and
                    (B) 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), 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''.
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