53308410 CONTENTS. 5. Rules governing the registration of trade-marks... 6. Forms of application for registration of trade-marks. 7. Classification of merchandise 8. Circular of Treasury Department relating to trade-marks 9. Extract from "Red Cross" act.. 10. Index to trade-mark statutes.. 154413 Page. TRADE-MARK LAW OF THE UNITED STATES. AN ACT To authorize the registration of trade-marks used in commerce with foreign nations or among the several States or with Indian tribes, and to protect the same. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the owner of a trademark used in commerce with foreign nations, or among the several States, or with Indian tribes, provided such owner shall be domiciled within the territory of the United States, or resides in or is located in any foreign country which, by treaty, convention, or law, affords similar privileges to the citizens of the United States, may obtain registration for such trade-mark by complying with the following requirements: First, by filing in the Patent Office an application therefor, in writing, addressed to the Commissioner of Patents, signed by the applicant, specifying his name, domicile, location, and citizenship; the class of merchandise and the particular description of goods comprised in such class to which the trade-mark is appropriated; a description of the trade-mark itself, only Act of May 4, 1906. when needed to express colors not shown in the drawing, and a statement of the mode in which the same is applied and affixed to goods, and the length of time during which the trade-mark has been used. With this statement shall be filed a drawing of the trade-mark, signed by the applicant, or his attorney, and such number of specimens of the trade-mark, as actually used, as may be required by the Commissioner of Patents. Second, by paying into the Treasury of the United States the sum of ten dollars, and otherwise complying with the requirements of this Act and such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Patents. SEC. 2. That the application prescribed in the foregoing section, in order to create any right whatever in favor of the party filing it, must be accompanied by a written declaration verified by the applicant, or by a member of the firm or an officer of the corporation or association applying, to the effect that the applicant believes himself or the firm, corporation, or association in whose behalf he makes the application to be the owner of the trade-mark sought to be registered, and that no other person, firm, corporation, or association, to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief, has the right to such use, either in the identical form or in such near resemblance thereto as might be calculated to deceive; that such trade-mark is used in commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, or with Indian tribes, and that the description and drawing presented truly represent the trade-mark sought to be registered. If the applicant resides or is located in a foreign country, the statement required shall, in addition to the foregoing, set forth that the trade-mark has been registered by the applicant, or that an application for the registration thereof has been filed by him in the foreign country in which he resides or is located, and shall give the date of such registration, or the application therefor, as the case may be, except that in the application in such cases it shall not be necessary to state that the mark has been used in commerce with the United States or among the States thereof. The verification required by this section may be made before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when the applicant resides in a foreign country, before any minister, chargé d'affaires, consul, or commercial agent holding commission under the Government of the United States, or before any notary public, judge, or magistrate having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be whose authority shall be proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States. SEC. 3. That every applicant for registration of a trade-mark, or for renewal of registration of a trade-mark, who is not domiciled within the United States, shall, before the issuance of the certificate of registration, as hereinafter provided for, designate, by a notice in writing, filed in the Patent Office, some person residing within the United States on whom process or notice of proceedings affecting the right of ownership of the trade-mark of which such applicant may claim to be the owner, brought under the provisions of this Act or under other laws of the United States, may be served, with the same force and effect as if served upon the applicant or registrant in person. For the purposes of this Act it shall be deemed sufficient to serve such notice upon such applicant, registrant, or representative by leaving a copy of such process or notice addressed to him at the last address of which the Commissioner of Patents has been notified. SEC. 4. That an application for registration of a trade-mark filed in this country by any person who has previously regularly filed in any foreign country which, by treaty, convention, or law, affords similar privileges to citizens of the United States an application for registration of the same trade-mark shall be accorded the same force and effect as would be accorded to the same application if filed in this country on the date on which application for registration of the same trade-mark was first filed in such foreign country: Provided, That such application is filed in this country within four months from the date on which the application was first filed in such foreign country: And provided, That certificate of registration shall not be issued for any mark for registration of which application has been filed by an applicant located in a foreign country until such mark has been actually registered by the applicant in the country in which he is located. SEC. 5. That no mark by which the goods of the owner of the mark may be distinguished from other goods of the same class shall be refused registration as a trade-mark on account of the nature of such mark unless such mark (a) Consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter; (b) Consists of or comprises the flag or coat of arms or other insignia of the United States, or any simulation thereof, or of any State or municipality, or of any foreign nation: Provided, That trade-marks which are identical with a registered or known trade-mark owned and in use by another, and appropriated to merchandise of the same descriptive properties, or which so nearly resemble a registered or known trade-mark owned and in use by another, and appropriated to merchandise of the same descriptive properties, as to be likely to cause confusion or mistake in the mind of the public, or to deceive purchasers, shall not be registered: Provided, That no mark which consists merely in the name of an individual, firm, corporation, or association, not written, printed, impressed, or woven in some particular or distinctive manner or in association with a portrait of the individual, or merely in words or devices which are descriptive of the goods with which they are used, or of the character or quality of such goods, or merely a geographical name or term, shall be registered under the terms of this Act: Provided further, That no portrait of a living individual may be registered as a trade-mark, except by the consent of such individual, evidenced by an instrument in writing: And provided further, That nothing herein shall prevent the registration of any mark used by the applicant or his predecessors, or by those from whom title to the mark is derived, in commerce with foreign nations or among the several States, or with Indian tribes, which was in actual and exclusive use as a trade-mark of the applicant or his predecessors from whom he derived title for ten years next preceding the passage of this Act. SEC. 6. That on the filing of an application for registration of a trade-mark which complies with the requirements of this Act, and the payment of the fees herein provided for, the Commissioner of Patents shall cause an examination thereof to be made; and if on such examination it shall appear that the applicant is entitled to have his trademark registered under the provisions of this Act, the Commissioner shall cause the mark to be published at least once in the Official Gazette |