A bill to amend the Lanham Trademark Act to prohibit any State from requiring that a registered trademark be altered for use within such State, and to encourage private enterprise with special emphasis on the preservation of small business.
Public Law 97-296 · H.R. 5154 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 12, 1982 · Commerce
Sponsor: Rep. Jerry Patterson (D-CA-38)
Cosponsors (10): Rep. Robert Badham, Rep. Thomas Railsback,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
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.
Amends the Lanham Trademark Act to prohibit any State from requiring the alteration of, or an additional trademark other than, the trademark exhibited by the registrant in the certificate of registration issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
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. 13 actions.
- Oct 12, 1982Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-296.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 1, 1982PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Sep 29, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Sep 20, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Aug 19, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Jul 21, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Dec 14, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Dec 9, 1981CommitteeCommittee · 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.