Lanham Trademark Act

British and U.S. courts began developing case law to protect trademarks against infringement in the early 1800s. In 1883, the United Kingdom adopted a statute that provided for registration of fancy words as trademarks. The United States enacted its first federal trademark statute in 1870, but the statute was declared unconstitutional in 1879. Subsequent federal trademark statutes were adopted in the United States in 1881, 1905, and 1920 the present comprehensive statute, known as the Lanham Act, was enacted in 1946. The Lanham Act was substantially revised for the first time in 1988 by the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988. The 1988 act, which became effective on November 16, 1989, both modified and supplemented the earHer statute. 

In the United States, the Lanham Act (238) as amended provides the framework for registration of trademarks in the PTO and for claims for infringement of federally registered trademarks as well as related claims for specific acts of unfair competition committed "in commerce." The Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 (239) provides several remedies... 

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