Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010

Citation
Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-146 (Mar. 17, 2010).

Overview
This new law tasked the U.S. Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), to study the extent to which small businesses may be harmed by abusive trademark enforcement tactics.

In introducing the study, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy said:

"I am concerned that large corporations are at times abusing the substantial rights Congress has granted them in their intellectual property to the detriment of small businesses. We saw a high-profile case like this in Vermont last year involving a spurious claim against Rock Art Brewery. When a corporation exaggerates the scope of its rights far beyond a reasonable interpretation in an attempt to bully a small business out of the market that is wrong."

The results of this law was the release of "Report to Congress: Trademark Litigation Tactics and Federal Government Services to Protect Trademarks and Prevent Counterfeiting (Apr. 2011).