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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3295 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.3295

                       One Hundred Tenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and eight

                                 An Act

 
To amend title 35, United States Code, and the Trademark Act of 1946 to 
    provide that the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, shall appoint 
 administrative patent judges and administrative trademark judges, and 
                           for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PATENT JUDGES AND 
ADMINISTRATIVE TRADEMARK JUDGES.
    (a) Administrative Patent Judges.--Section 6 of title 35, United 
States Code, is amended--
        (1) in subsection (a)--
            (A) in the second sentence, by striking ``Deputy 
        Commissioner'' and inserting ``Deputy Director''; and
            (B) in the last sentence, by striking ``Director'' and 
        inserting ``Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 
        Director''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Authority of the Secretary.--The Secretary of Commerce may, 
in his or her discretion, deem the appointment of an administrative 
patent judge who, before the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
held office pursuant to an appointment by the Director to take effect 
on the date on which the Director initially appointed the 
administrative patent judge.
    ``(d) Defense to Challenge of Appointment.--It shall be a defense 
to a challenge to the appointment of an administrative patent judge on 
the basis of the judge's having been originally appointed by the 
Director that the administrative patent judge so appointed was acting 
as a de facto officer.''.
    (b) Administrative Trademark Judges.--Section 17 of the Act 
entitled ``An Act to provide for the registration and protection of 
trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain 
international conventions, and for other purposes'', approved July 5, 
1946 (commonly referred to as the ``Trademark Act of 1946''; 15 U.S.C. 
1067), is amended--
        (1) in subsection (b)--
            (A) by inserting ``Deputy Director of the United States 
        Patent and Trademark Office'', after ``Director,''; and
            (B) by striking ``appointed by the Director'' and inserting 
        ``appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
        the Director''; and
        (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Authority of the Secretary.--The Secretary of Commerce may, 
in his or her discretion, deem the appointment of an administrative 
trademark judge who, before the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, held office pursuant to an appointment by the Director to 
take effect on the date on which the Director initially appointed the 
administrative trademark judge.
    ``(d) Defense to Challenge of Appointment.--It shall be a defense 
to a challenge to the appointment of an administrative trademark judge 
on the basis of the judge's having been originally appointed by the 
Director that the administrative trademark judge so appointed was 
acting as a de facto officer.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
```