Trademark Law Updates | New Proposed Legislation
August 11, 2008
Congress Sends Bill Regarding Appointment of Admin Patent and Trademark Judges to President Bush for Signing
To amend Title 35, United States Code, and the Trademark Act of 1946
H.R.6362, S.3295, 8/5/2008
On August 5, 2008, t he U.S. Congress sent to President George Bush for signing a bill that transfers the power to appoint administrative trademark judges and administrative patent judges from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to the Secretary of Commerce.
Previously, under the Intellectual Property and Communications Reform Act of 1999, the power to appoint was transferred from the Secretary of Commerce to the USPTO Director. The present legislation seeks to vest such power back to the Commerce Secretary after the constitutionality of such grant of power to the USPTO was challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court in…
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View a PDF of the proposed legislation