TechLaw

Earlier today I was foolish enough to predict that the Utah legislature was on the verge of repealing a law  giving Utah-registered trademark owners a cause of action against anyone that used a registered mark to trigger advertising for someone other than the mark owner. The repealer (S.B. 151) had already been approved unanimously by the Utah Senate and was awaiting a final reading in the Utah House.

However, late today S.B. 151 stumbled just short of the finish line. The House passed a substitute measure that appears to preserve the basic thrust of the Utah electronic trademark law, namely to give registered mark owners a means of halting the use of their marks to trigger competitive online advertising. The substitute bill limits the current cause of action to (1) advertisers and advertising companies who have the ability to know in which states their ads are displayed, (2) advertisers who are direct competitors of the mark owner, and (3)  advertisers who fail to prominently display the phrase "Paid Advertisement" with the ad copy.

Still later today, the Senate refused to go along with the House amendments. Tomorrow, March 5, is the final day of the legislative session.

As you can see from the table below, March 4 was a busy one for S.B. 151.

S.B. 151 Second Substitute  Trademark Protection Act Amendments (Eastman, D.)