RE: [wg-b] US Statutorily Protected Marks

["Beresford, Lynne" <Lynne.Beresford@USPTO.GOV>]

Marks protected by statute in the U.S. are not protected because they are
well-known or famous (although some of them are very well-knwon)..  These
marks are protected because the persons responsible for protecting them
were able to convince Congress to provide statutory protection.  One would
have to go back to the legislative history of the various statutory
provisions to find out if anyone argued that a particular mark should be
protected because it was famous.  Usually these marks are governmental or
charitable in nature and an argument can be made, on a case-by-case basis,
that they deserve special protection.  (There are countervailing arguments
that can also be made.)  However, statutory protection is extended to a few
of these mark because the U.S. is a member of a treaty that provides
protection for a particular mark,  I think the protection of the "Red Cross"
falls into that category.  

Nevertheless, the statutory protection is, of course, national in scope, and
has nothing to do with the international fame or well-knownness of the mark.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Harald@alvestrand.no [SMTP:Harald@alvestrand.no]
> Sent:	Friday, November 26, 1999 4:47 PM
> To:	mpalage@infonetworks.com; wg-b@dnso.org
> Subject:	Re: [wg-b] US Statutorily Protected Marks
> 
> At 14:41 25.11.99 -0500, Michael D. Palage wrote:
> >Several participants have asked me about the list of statutorily
> protected
> >marks under US Federal Law. The following is a "partial" list obtained
> from
> >the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure - Section 1900.
> >http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmep/1900.htm
> 
> Thank you - this makes the point that US statutorily protected marks do
> not 
> necessarily meet the Paris/TRIPS criteria for "famous marks" more 
> eloquently than any logical argument!
> 
> "Smokey Bear" indeed!
> 
>                       Harald A
> 
> 
> --
> Harald Tveit Alvestrand, EDB Maxware, Norway
> Harald.Alvestrand@edb.maxware.no