SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 324
WHEREAS, July 5, 2021, is the 75th anniversary of the
signing of the Lanham Act by President Harry S. Truman, marking a
significant milestone in the effort to protect American
consumers and manufacturers from the proliferation of
counterfeit goods; and
WHEREAS, Counterfeit products undermine laws, threaten the
economy, and pose both potential and actual harm to consumers in
Texas and across the nation; in April 2021, the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development reported that counterfeit
goods were on the rise, constituting as much as 3.3 percent of
globally traded goods at a cost of $500 billion; there are
approximately 135,000 registered trademarks owned by Texas
businesses and more than 2.5 million active trademarks in the
United States, and each year, brand owners ranging from small
businesses to major corporations collectively spend billions of
dollars to remove counterfeit products from circulation; and
WHEREAS, Also known as the Trademark Act of 1946, the Lanham
Act provides the foundation for modern federal trademark
protection, creating remedies for brand owners and helping
consumers by reducing the number of counterfeit and confusingly
similar products in the marketplace; cited in over 50 Supreme Court
decisions and 54,000 cases in state and federal courts, the act has
helped establish a nationwide framework for the protection of
logos, words, phrases, names, packaging, scents, shapes, colors,
and other elements of trademark; these measures help protect the
integrity of consumer goods ranging from soap and toothpaste to
pharmaceuticals and military equipment; and
WHEREAS, The primary sponsor of the act was Fritz Lanham of
Fort Worth, who represented the 12th Congressional District in
the U.S. House of Representatives from 1919 to 1947; during his
remarkable 27-year tenure, he served as chair of the House
Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, playing a vital role
in the construction of such important federal buildings as the
Pan American Union Building, the Longworth House Office
Building, and many U.S. courthouses and post offices; he also
served on the Supreme Court Building Commission under former
president and chief justice William Howard Taft, helping to
oversee the construction of the U.S. Supreme Court building, on
time and under budget; and
WHEREAS, For 75 years, the Lanham Act has enabled the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to administer a strong and
effective federal trademark system, and in so doing, this
important legislation has helped protect both brand owners and
consumers in the marketplace; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 87th
Legislature, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the
passage of the Lanham Act and pay tribute to the life and legacy
of U.S. Representative Fritz Lanham.
Powell
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President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on April 27, 2021.
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Secretary of the Senate
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Member, Texas Senate