Opinion ID: 1036437
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Duly Executed Instrument in Writing”

Text: Section 10 of the Act declares, “Assignments shall be by instruments in writing duly executed,” 15 U.S.C. § 1060(a)(3), and directs the USPTO to “maintain a record of information on assignments,” id. § 1060(a)(5). The various documents presented to support plaintiffs’ position that FTE is an “assign” of the Russian Federation do not resemble an assignment under United States law, even taking them flexibly and as a cumulative whole. As discussed above, although the Charter refers generally to “property assigned” to FTE,11 it does not expressly mention the Marks. The July 2002 decree, which does refer to a Stolichnaya Mark, does not declare that the Russian Federation is assigning anything to FTE; rather, the document provides that the Russian Federation is conveying to FTE the rights to “use and dispose” of one of the Marks, without any mention at all of assignment, or transferring ownership, or the good will symbolized by the Marks. J.A. 423. 11 Paragraph 16 provides in relevant part, “The sources of formation of the Enterprise’s property shall be as follows: (a) property assigned to the Enterprise in accordance with established procedure.” Charter ¶ 16, J.A. 417. 22 Although we do not here purport to set out a bright-line rule requiring that Lanham Act assignments take a particular written form, we note just how far the Charter’s (and the decrees’) language lies from the unequivocal transfer of title and good will normally required to effectuate an assignment of rights. Cf. Restatement (Second) Contracts § 324 (“It is essential to an assignment of a right that the [assignor] manifest an intention to transfer the right to another person without further action or manifestation of intention by the [assignor].”). Regulations issued by the USPTO reflect an expectation that assignments will be clearly stated in writing, and the assigned marks identified with specificity. Thus, to register a trademark assignment, the USPTO requires that the assignee submit a cover sheet with information including “[e]ach trademark registration number and each trademark application number” or “a copy of the application or a reproduction of the trademark.” 37 C.F.R. § 3.31(a)(4)(i). None of the documents at issue here states that Russia has transferred title to the Marks to FTE, and only one Mark is identified in any of the documents empowering FTE. Although it may seem formalistic, the “writing requirement” is rooted in real policy concerns. In the copyright context, the Ninth Circuit has explained that the Copyright Act’s assignment-related writing requirement, 23 17 U.S.C. § 204(a), serves the ends of (1) ensuring that the owner of intellectual property will not assign it inadvertently; (2) forcing parties to determine the precise rights being transferred; and (3) enhancing predictability and certainty of ownership. Effects Assocs., Inc. v. Cohen, 908 F.2d 555, 557 (9th Cir. 1990). Similarly, the predictability and certainty arising from a clear writing assigning a trademark dovetail comfortably with the standing requirements of Section 32(1). A clear writing effecting an assignment signals to the parties and the world that the assign is the party that owns the mark and is authorized to exclude others from use. There is no such writing in the record before us, nor is such a writing adequately alleged in the complaint.