Angie Craig: “Senator Durbin and I have introduced S. 2796, pertaining to the legal treatment of certification marks, collective…”

“Senator Durbin and I have introduced S. 2796, pertaining to the legal treatment of certification marks, collective marks, and service marks. Federal law protects all four kinds of marks equally. Specifically, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1503 and 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1504 provide that service marks, collective marks, and certification marks 'shall be entitled to the protection provided' to trademarks, except where Congress provides otherwise by statute. However, the clarity of the Federal laws on this point has been confused by a recent decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Idaho Potato Commission v. M&M Produce Farm and Sales. That decision interpreted the Lanham Act as requiring that certification marks should be treated differently from trademarks with respect to 'no challenge' provisions. We introduced S. 2796 to underscore the policy that Congress clearly intended in the first place.”