I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5374 
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to provide for contributory liability 
for certain electronic commerce platforms for use of a counterfeit mark 
by a third party on such platforms, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. 
CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to provide for con-
tributory liability for certain electronic commerce plat-
forms for use of a counterfeit mark by a third party 
on such platforms, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harmful Of-
fers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-com-
merce Act’’ or the ‘‘SHOP SAFE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONTRIBUTORY LIABILITY FOR ELECTRONIC COM-
MERCE PLATFORMS. 
Section 32 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 
the registration and protection of trademarks used in com-
merce, to carry out the provisions of certain international 
conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 5, 
1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’) 
(15 U.S.C. 1114), is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(4)(A) An electronic commerce platform shall 
be contributorily liable in a civil action under para-
graph (1) for a case in which a third-party seller 
uses in commerce a counterfeit mark in connection 
with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or ad-
vertising of goods that implicate health and safety 
on the platform, unless the platform demonstrates 
that the platform took each of the following steps to 
prevent such use on the platform before any infring-
ing act by the third-party seller: 
‘‘(i) Determined after a reasonable inves-
tigation, 
and 
reasonably 
periodically 
con-
firmed— 
‘‘(I) that the third-party seller des-
ignated a registered agent in the United 
States for service of process; or 
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‘‘(II) in the case of third-party seller 
located in the United States that has not 
designated a registered agent under sub-
clause (I), that the third-party seller has 
designated a verified address for service of 
process in the United States. 
‘‘(ii) Verified through reliable documenta-
tion, including to the extent possible some form 
of government-issued identification, the iden-
tity, principal place of business, and contact in-
formation of the third-party seller. 
‘‘(iii) Except as provided for in subpara-
graph (C), required the third-party seller to— 
‘‘(I) take reasonable steps to verify 
the authenticity of goods on or in connec-
tion with which a registered mark is used; 
and 
‘‘(II) attest to the platform that the 
third-party seller has taken reasonable 
steps under subclause (I) to verify the au-
thenticity of the goods. 
‘‘(iv) Imposed on the third-party seller as 
a condition of participating on the platform 
contractual requirements that— 
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‘‘(I) the third-party seller agrees not 
to use a counterfeit mark in connection 
with the sale, offering for sale, distribu-
tion, or advertising of goods on the plat-
form; 
‘‘(II) the third-party seller consents to 
the jurisdiction of United States courts 
with respect to claims related to participa-
tion by the third-party seller on the plat-
form; and 
‘‘(III) the third-party seller designates 
an agent for service of process in the 
United States, or, in the case of third- 
party seller located in the United States, 
the third-party seller designates a verified 
address for service of process in the United 
States. 
‘‘(v) Displayed conspicuously on the plat-
form the verified principal place of business, 
contact information, and identity of the third- 
party seller, and the country from which the 
goods were originally shipped from the third- 
party seller, except the platform shall not be re-
quired to display any such information that 
constitutes the personal identity of an indi-
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