12 2 STA T .30 1 4PUBLIC LA W 110 – 313 — AU G .12 , 200 8PublicLaw1 1 0–3 13 110 thCongres s A n Act Toamendti t l e 35,U nited S tate sC ode, and t h eT r ademar kAc to f1946 to p ro v ide that the Secretar y of Commerce, in cons u ltation w ith the D irector of the United States P atent and Trademark O ffice, shall appoint administrative patent j ud g es and administrative trademark judges, and for other purposes .Beit e nac te dby t h e S enate and Hous eo fR e pr esentati v es of the U nited States of Am erica in C on g ress assemb l ed ,SECTION1.AP POINT M ENT O F A D MINIST R ATI V E PATENT JU D G ES AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRADEMAR K JUDGES. (a)ADMIN I STRA TI VEP ATENT JU D G ES .—Section6 o f tit l e 35,U nite d State sC ode, is a m ended— ( 1 )ins ub section (a)— (A)int h e second sentence, b y st r i k in g‘ ‘ D e p uty Commissioner ’ ’ and inserting ‘‘Deputy Director’’
and ( B ) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Commerce, in consultation w ith the Director’’; and (C) by adding at the end the following
‘‘(c) AUT HO RIT Y O F THE SE C RETARY.— T he Secretary of Com - merce may, in his or her discretion, deem the appointment of an administrati v e patent j udge who, before the date of the enact- ment of this subsection, held office pursuant to an appointment by the Director to take effect on the date on which the Director initially appointed the administrative patent judge. ‘‘(d) DEFENSE TO CHA L LENGE OF A P POINTMENT.— I t shall be a defense to a challenge to the appointment of an administrative patent judge on the basis of the judge’s having been originally appointed by the Director that the administrative patent judge so appointed was acting as a de facto officer.’’. (b) ADMINISTRATIVE TRADEMAR K JUDGES.—Section 1 7 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 5, 1 94 6 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’; 15 U.S.C. 1 0 67), is amended— (1) in subsection (b)— (A) by inserting ‘‘Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark O ffice’’, after ‘‘Director,’’; and (B) by striking ‘‘appointed by the Director’’ and inserting ‘‘appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, in con- sultation with the Director’’; and ( 2 ) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary of Com- merce may, in his or her discretion, deem the appointment of Aug.12, 2 0 0 8[S . 3 2 95]
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