S. 4902

PROTECT Act

Shown here: Introduced in Senate (2026-06-24)

To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 to prohibit a private entity from registering a trademark that is used by the United States Government for the purposes of Department of Defense or Armed Forces awards, and for other purposes.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Preservation of Rights and Ownership of Traditional Emblems, Crests, and Tributes Act” or the “PROTECT Act”.

2. Registration of trademarks

(a) In general

Section 2 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, 1946 (commonly known as the “Trademark Act of 1946”) (15 U.S.C. 1052), is amended—

(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g);

(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:

(f) Is authorized, issued, or controlled by the Government for the purposes of Department of Defense or Armed Forces awards, decorations, campaign and service ribbons, or medals, except that such a mark may be registered at the discretion of the agency or department of the Government that controls the official use of the mark.

(3) in subsection (g), as so redesignated—

(A) in the first sentence, by striking “and (e)(5)” and inserting “(e)(5), and (f)”; and

(B) by adding at the end the following: “Nothing in subsection (f) may be construed to prohibit the continued use of a mark on or after the date of enactment of the Preservation of Rights and Ownership of Traditional Emblems, Crests, and Tributes Act by any person or entity, including a nonprofit organization, if that person or entity was using that mark before that date of enactment and that use was lawful before that date of enactment, except that, on and after that date of enactment, no person or entity other than an agency or department of the Government described in that subsection may register such a mark on the principal register.”.

(b) Technical and conforming amendments

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, 1946 (commonly known as the “Trademark Act of 1946”) (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.), is amended—

(1) in section 1(d)(1) (15 U.S.C. 1051(d)(1)), by striking “subsections (a) through (e) of section 2” and inserting “subsections (a) through (f) of section 2”; and

(2) in section 26 (15 U.S.C. 1094), by striking “2(f)” and inserting “2(g)”.