A bill to amend the Trademark Act of 1946 and title 35 of the United States Code to change the name of the Patent Office to the "Patent and Trademark Office".
Public Law 93-596 · H.R. 7599 · 93rd Congress · began in the House
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Jan 2, 1975 · Commemorations
Sponsor: Rep. Robert Kastenmeier (D-WI-2)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
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.
Changes the name of the Patent Office to the Patent and Trademark Office under the Trademark Act of 1946. Designates the Commissioner as the Commission of Patents and trademarks.
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. 10 actions.
- Jan 2, 1975Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 93-596.
- Dec 24, 1974PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 18, 1974FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Dec 17, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 16, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- Oct 15, 1973FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- Sep 25, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- May 8, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
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.