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

Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (currently, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 691 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 691

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2005

  Mr. Domenici (for himself, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Santorum, Mr. 
Ensign, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Allen, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. 
   Bunning) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               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. 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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