LibGuides: IP Law: Trademarks: Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act

The Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act

Revised Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Taken from the National Consumer Law Center Digital Library.
The Act lists eleven deceptive trade practices, such as bait advertising, and misrepresentations of trade names, the geographical origin of goods, and the standard or quality of goods.4 The only “catch-all” category is one for “conduct which similarly creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding.”
Taken from § 103. Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 1 Consumer Law Sales Practices and Credit Regulation § 103.

The act has been adopted in seven states and used as the basis for new laws in six states with complementary legislation.

Drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and by it approved and recommended for enactment in all the States at its annual conference meeting in its seventy-fifth year.

Uniform Laws

Like the Restatements, the Uniform Laws were created to help create statutory cohesiveness between the states. The American Bar Association passed a resolution recommending that each state and the District of Columbia adopt a law providing for the appointment of commissioners to confer with commissioners of other states on the subject of uniformity in legislation on specific subjects. In 1892, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) was organized, and by 1912, each state had passed such a law. According to the NCCUSL constitution, its object is to "promote uniformity in state law on all subjects where uniformity is desirable and practical."

An act is designated as uniform when it has a reasonable possibility of ultimate enactment in many jurisdictions. The Conference meets once a year and considers drafts of proposed uniform laws. When such a law is approved, the commissioners must try and persuade their state legislatures to adopt it. Adoption by the Conference has no legal effect.

For more, read this article.

Uniform law commission

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC, also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws), established in 1892, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.

ULC members must be lawyers, qualified to practice law. They are practicing lawyers, judges, legislators and legislative staff and law professors, who have been appointed by state governments as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical.

ULC strengthens the federal system by providing rules and procedures that are consistent from state to state but that also reflect the diverse experience of the states.
ULC statutes are representative of state experience, because the organization is made up of representatives from each state, appointed by state government.
ULC keeps state law up-to-date by addressing important and timely legal issues.
ULC’s efforts reduce the need for individuals and businesses to deal with different laws as they move and do business in different states.
ULC’s work facilitates economic development and provides a legal platform for foreign entities to deal with U.S. citizens and businesses.
ULC Commissioners donate thousands of hours of their time and legal and drafting expertise every year as a public service, and receive no salary or compensation for their work.
ULC’s deliberative and uniquely open drafting process draws on the expertise of commissioners, but also utilizes input from legal experts, and advisors and observers representing the views of other legal organizations or interests that will be subject to the proposed laws.

ULC is a state-supported organization that represents true value for the states, providing services that most states could not otherwise afford or duplicate. --From the ULC Website.