I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4164 
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to provide that the licensing of 
a mark for use by a related company may not be construed as estab-
lishing an employment relationship between the owner of the mark, 
or an authorizing person, and either that related company or the employ-
ees of that related company, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 6, 2019 
Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. 
CORREA, and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to provide that the 
licensing of a mark for use by a related company may 
not be construed as establishing an employment relation-
ship between the owner of the mark, or an authorizing 
person, and either that related company or the employees 
of that related company, 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 ‘‘Trademark Licensing 
Protection Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR. 
Section 5 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. 1055), is amended— 
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Where a’’ 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Where a’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) CONSISTENCY IN USE.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘authorizing person’ means 
a person that is authorized by the owner of a 
mark to license that mark for use by a related 
company; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘communicate’, with respect 
to subparagraph (D)(i)(II), does not include 
any communication related to a personnel or 
employment policy or procedure; 
‘‘(C) the term ‘employment relationship’ 
means any type of joint employer relationship, 
single employer relationship, or other employ-
ment-related status or relationship; 
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‘‘(D) the term ‘exercise control over the 
mark’— 
‘‘(i) includes, but is not limited to, re-
quiring a related company to— 
‘‘(I) complete training conducted 
for the purpose of preserving or en-
hancing goodwill, a reputation, uni-
formity, or the expectation of the pub-
lic with respect to the nature and 
quality of goods or services associated 
with a mark; or 
‘‘(II) 
communicate 
with 
the 
owner of a mark, or an authorizing 
person, with respect to preserving or 
enhancing goodwill, a reputation, uni-
formity, or the expectation of the pub-
lic with respect to the nature and 
quality of goods or services associated 
with a mark; and 
‘‘(ii) does not include any personnel or 
employment policy or procedure that is 
communicated— 
‘‘(I) by— 
‘‘(aa) the owner of a mark; 
or 
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