Trademark Amendments Act of 1999
Public Law 106-43 · S. 1259 · 106th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Aug 5, 1999 · Commerce
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Patrick Leahy
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Trademark Amendments Act of 1999 - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act) to grant holders of famous trademarks the right to oppose or seek cancellation of a mark on both principal and supplemental registers that would cause dilution of their marks (under the Dilution Act). Specifies the exclusive proceeding for refusing registration of such a mark. Applies such amendment only to applications for registration filed on or after January 16, 1996.
Authorizes a court to grant injunctive relief for violations of this Act, as well as damages for willful violations, and an order for delivery and destruction of any articles of the defendant which constitute a willful violation.
Waives sovereign immunity for the Federal Government to grant private citizens and corporate entities the right to bring an action for trademark infringement against the United States, its agencies, and any entities or persons acting for the United States.
Declares that in an action for trade dress infringement, where the matter sought to be protected is not registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the person who asserts trade dress protection has the burden of proving that the trade dress is not functional (that is, not commonly used by similar businesses, and thus eligible for protection).
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 11 actions.
- Aug 5, 1999Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 106-43.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 28, 1999PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jul 26, 1999FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Coble moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Jul 1, 1999FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Jun 22, 1999CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.