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One to Keep An Eye On: Trademark Licensing Protection Act of 2018


As with many employment and labor law related bills (and cases) being litigated around the country, there are always a few that stand out.

This is one to keep an eye on.


Recently, the House of Representatives Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (Republican from Ohio) and Henry Cuellar (Democrat from Texas), introduced a bill that would clarify that licensing trademarks and controlling or exercising those trademarks does not create an employment relationship.  This bill, the Trademark Licensing Protection Act of 2018 (a/k/a H.R. 6695) would bar franchisers from being classified as a joint employer (and consequently liable for labor law violations of its franchisees and contractors) if the franchisers took actions to enforce trademark protection standards.

This proposed legislation would update the Trademark Act of 1946 by clarifying that a franchiser that enforces trademarks "may not be construed as establishing an employer or principal-agent relationship between the owner of the mark and the related company."  This bill is viewed by many as a response by Congress to calls by employers and business groups to have the standard for joint employment rewritten after the National Labor Relations Board (during President Obama's term) established that franchisers only need to exercise indirect control over franchisees to be held liable as joint employers.

Given that this bill has been introduced by both a Republican and a Democrat should give supporters of the legislation a reason to be optimistic.  While this still has a ways to go before clearing the House (and then the Senate), if it continues to have bipartisan support, the Trademark Licensing Protection Act of 2018 could be a major victory for business groups.


 

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