This is more of a reference guide than a blog post, but it will be one of the most helpful resources you will encounter. The Lanham Act is the series of statutes governing federal trademark law. Also known as the Trademark Act of 1946, it was named after its chief proponent: Frederick “Fritz” Garland Lanham, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas. In what I consider a pleasantly surprising coincidence, Lanham attended Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt has been producing learned men for centuries, but I digress.
The Lanham Act is referenced heavily throughout trademark law, from trademark examining attorneys during prosecution to courts during litigation. However, many resources frequently identify specific provisions of the Lanham Act using their precodified names (Section 1, Section 2, etc.) without identifying the location of those provisions in the United States Code. As a result, those references can be confusing—if not totally useless—unless you are a trademark attorney who reviews the Lanham Act regularly.
To save you time and frustration, I have created a Lanham Act reference guide for you. The below chart maps the Lanham Act’s provisions to their locations in the United States Code. Rather than blindly researching, for example, what your examining attorney means by “Section 2(d) refusal,” you can visit this list, click on Section 2 or 15 U.S.C. § 1052, and read the statute that prohibits registration of marks that are likely to be confused with marks already registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Here’s an excerpt of Section 2:
“No trademark . . . shall be refused registration on the principal register . . . unless it—
. . .
(d) Consists of or comprises a mark which so resembles a mark registered in the Patent and Trademark Office . . . as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods of the applicant, to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive . . . .”
The USPTO has created a more voluminous PDF version of this guide containing not only the statutory references shown below, but also the actual text of each statute. You may view and download that PDF at this USPTO.gov link. But if all you want to do is view a provision or two of the Lanham Act to try and get your bearings, it is probably easiest to scroll down and click. You might as well even bookmark this page.
Enjoy, and share with someone who will find it helpful. Also, did you notice that the title of this post is a double entendre?
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| Lanham Act | Topic | Federal Statute |
| Title I – The Principal Register | ||
| Section 1 | Application for registration; verification | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 |
| Section 2 | Trademarks registrable on principal register; concurrent registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1052 |
| Section 3 | Service marks registrable | 15 U.S.C. § 1053 |
| Section 4 | Collective marks and certification marks registrable | 15 U.S.C. § 1054 |
| Section 5 | Use by related companies affecting validity and registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1055 |
| Section 6 | Disclaimer of unregistrable matter | 15 U.S.C. § 1056 |
| Section 7 | Certificates of registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1057 |
| Section 8 | Duration, affidavits and fees | 15 U.S.C. § 1058 |
| Section 9 | Renewal of registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1059 |
| Section 10 | Assignment | 15 U.S.C. § 1060 |
| Section 11 | Execution of acknowledgments and verifications | 15 U.S.C. § 1061 |
| Section 12 | Publication | 15 U.S.C. § 1062 |
| Section 13 | Opposition to registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1063 |
| Section 14 | Cancellation of registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1064 |
| Section 15 | Incontestability of right to use mark under certain conditions | 15 U.S.C. § 1065 |
| Section 16 | Interference; declaration by Director | 15 U.S.C. § 1066 |
| Section 17 | Interference, opposition, and proceedings for concurrent use registration or for cancellation; notice; Trademark Trial and Appeal Board | 15 U.S.C. § 1067 |
| Section 18 | Action of Director in interference, opposition, and proceedings for concurrent use registration or for cancellation | 15 U.S.C. § 1068 |
| Section 19 | Application of equitable principles in inter partes proceedings | 15 U.S.C. § 1069 |
| Section 20 | Appeals to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board from decisions of examiners | 15 U.S.C. § 1070 |
| Section 21 | Appeal to courts | 15 U.S.C. § 1071 |
| Section 22 | Registration as constructive notice of claim of ownership | 15 U.S.C. § 1072 |
| Title II – The Supplemental Register | ||
| Section 23 | Supplemental register | 15 U.S.C. § 1091 |
| Section 24 | Publication; not subject to opposition; cancellation | 15 U.S.C. § 1092 |
| Section 25 | Registration certificates for marks on principal and supplemental registers to be different | 15 U.S.C. § 1093 |
| Section 26 | Provisions of chapter applicable to registrations on supplemental register | 15 U.S.C. § 1094 |
| Section 27 | Registration on principal register not precluded | 15 U.S.C. § 1095 |
| Section 28 | Registration on supplemental register not used to stop importations | 15 U.S.C. § 1096 |
| Title III – Notice of Registration | ||
| Section 29 | Notice of registration; display with mark; recovery of profits and damages in infringement suit | 15 U.S.C. § 1111 |
| Title IV – Classification | ||
| Section 30 | Classification of goods and services; registration in plurality of classes | 15 U.S.C. § 1112 |
| Title V – Fees and Charges | ||
| Section 31 | Fees | 15 U.S.C. § 1113 |
| Title VI – Remedies | ||
| Section 32 | Remedies; infringement; innocent infringement by printers and publishers | 15 U.S.C. § 1114 |
| Section 33 | Registration on principal register as evidence of exclusive right to use mark; defenses | 15 U.S.C. § 1115 |
| Section 34 | Injunctive relief | 15 U.S.C. § 1116 |
| Section 35 | Recovery for violation of rights | 15 U.S.C. § 1117 |
| Section 36 | Destruction of infringing articles | 15 U.S.C. § 1118 |
| Section 37 | Power of court over registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1119 |
| Section 38 | Civil liability for false or fraudulent registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1120 |
| Section 39 | Jurisdiction of Federal courts; State and local requirements that registered trademarks be altered or displayed differently; prohibition | 15 U.S.C. § 1121 |
| Section 40 | Liability of United States and States, and instrumentalities and officials thereof | 15 U.S.C. § 1122 |
| Section 41 | Rules and regulations for conduct of proceedings in Patent and Trademark Office | 15 U.S.C. § 1123 |
| Title VII – Importation Forbidden of Goods Bearing Infringing Marks or Names | ||
| Section 42 | Importation of goods bearing infringing marks or names forbidden | 15 U.S.C. § 1124 |
| Title VIII – False Designations of Origin, False Descriptions, and Dilution Forbidden | ||
| Section 43 | False designations of origin, false descriptions, and dilution forbidden | 15 U.S.C. § 1125 |
| Title IX – International Conventions | ||
| Section 44 | International conventions | 15 U.S.C. § 1126 |
| Title X – Construction and Definitions | ||
| Section 45 | Construction and definitions; intent of chapter | 15 U.S.C. § 1127 |
| Title XI – Repeal of Previous Acts | ||
| Section 46(a) | Time of taking effect; repeal of prior acts | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 46(b) | Existing registrations under prior acts | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 47(a) | Applications pending on effective date of Act | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 47(b) | Appeals pending on effective date of Act | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 48 | Prior acts not repealed | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 49 | Preservation of existing rights | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 50 | Severability | 15 U.S.C. § 1051 (note) |
| Section 51 | Applications pending on effective date of the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988 | 15 U.S.C. § 1058 (note) |
| Title XII – The Madrid Protocol | ||
| Section 60 | Definitions | 15 U.S.C. § 1141 |
| Section 61 | International applications based on United States applications or registrations | 15 U.S.C. § 1141a |
| Section 62 | Certification of the international application | 15 U.S.C. § 1141b |
| Section 63 | Restriction, abandonment, cancellation, or expiration of a basic application or basic registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1141c |
| Section 64 | Request for extension of protection subsequent to international registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1141d |
| Section 65 | Extension of protection of an international registration to the United States under the Madrid Protocol | 15 U.S.C. § 1141e |
| Section 66 | Effect of filing a request for extension of protection of an international registration to the United States | 15 U.S.C. § 1141f |
| Section 67 | Right of priority for request for extension of protection to the United States | 15 U.S.C. § 1141g |
| Section 68 | Examination of and opposition to request for extension of protection; notification of refusal | 15 U.S.C. § 1141h |
| Section 69 | Effect of extension of protection | 15 U.S.C. § 1141i |
| Section 70 | Dependence of extension of protection to the United States on the underlying international registration | 15 U.S.C. § 1141j |
| Section 71 | Duration, affidavits and fees | 15 U.S.C. § 1141k |
| Section 72 | Assignment of an extension of protection | 15 U.S.C. § 1141l |
| Section 73 | Incontestability | 15 U.S.C. § 1141m |
| Section 74 | Rights of extension of protection | 15 U.S.C. § 1141n |
| Section 13403 | Definitions | 15 U.S.C. § 1141 (note) |
