A trademark identifies the source, origin, or sponsorship of goods or services, and may take the form of a word, phrase, or symbol. To possess a trademark is to have exclusive right, under law, to use the mark. Today trademarks may be registered under either federal or state law, in the former case with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), in the latter case usually with the Secretary of State or some similar state official.
Trademark law developed from the law of unfair competition, which had roots in the common law of fraud and deceit. In contrast with the law of copyright and patents, there is no specific provision in the Constitution for trademarks. Nevertheless, during the nineteenth century, Congress enacted a federal structure for the registration and protection of trademarks. The earliest federal trademark laws were held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Trademark Cases, 100 U.S. 82 (1879). Afterward, Congress passed another trademark act in 1881, revised in 1905 and 1920.
The federal statute now in effect is the Trademark Act of 1946, or the Lanham Act, 60 Stat. 427. The Lanham Act sustains a federal system of registration and protection for trademarks "used in commerce," and is designed to permit the coexistence of such systems under state law. The Lanham Act was significantly amended by the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984, 98 Stat. 2179, the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988, 102 Stat. 3935, the Trademark Remedy Clarification Act (1992), 106 Stat. 3567, the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (1994), 108 Stat. 4989, the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995, 110 Stat. 985, the Trademark Law Treaty Implementation Act (1998), 112 Stat. 3064, and the Trademark Amendments Act of 1999, 113 Stat. 218. Generally, the Lanham Act as amended is codified at 15 USC Sections 1051-1127.
Intellectual Property materials are generally found in the call number range KF2971-KF3193. Print resources are available in the Academic Success section (or on Reserve) on the 6th Floor or the 10th Floor of the Law Library. Related Subject Headings include the following.
Intellectual property -- United States
Jay Dratler, Jr., Intellectual Property Law: Commercial, Creative, and Industrial Property (Lexis). 10th Floor - KF2979.D72
Michael A. Epstein, Epstein on Intellectual Property. 10th Floor - KF2976.5.E67
Roger E. Schechter & John R. Thomas, Intellectual Property: The Law of Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks. 6th Floor (Academic Success & Reserve) - KF2980.S3
Gilson on Trademarks (Lexis).
Horwitz on World Trademark Law (Lexis).
Siegrun D. Kane, Kane on Trademark Law: A Practitioner’s Guide. 10th Floor - KF3180 .K35
J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition (Westlaw). 10th Floor - KF3180.M127
Historical Foundations of the Law Relating to Trademarks (HeinOnline). 10th Floor - KF3180.Sch21x