[IP] New developments on anti-free speech trademark revision bill
Begin forwarded message:
From: Paul Levy <plevy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 15, 2005 2:55:44 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: New developments on anti-free speech trademark revision bill
I recently learned that the Association of the Bar of the City of New
York ("ABCNY"), a highly respected bar group whose members belong to
some of New York's biggest private law firms, has joined Public
Citizen, the ACLU, EFF and Public Knowledge in opposing the present
form of HR 683. That bill would amend section 43(c) of the Lanham
Act in ways that wuold drastically increase the exposure of consumers
and small businesses to litigation from large national corporations
for violating their trademarks based on purely npon-commercial
commentary. The ABCNY conducted a detailed study of the provisions
of the proposed legislation and issued a report last spring, but
apparently they refrained from disseminating the report because they
had no idea that other groups were also opposed.
So, although proponents of the change have portrayed the trademark
bar as being united in favor of the bill, that claim is highly
misleading.
The ABCNY's study, and their proposed changes in HR 683, can be found
on the ABCNY web site at http://www.abcny.org/pdf/report/
nyc1-560488-6.pdf
Paul Alan Levy
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 - 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 588-1000
http://www.citizen.org/litigation
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