PROVIDING FOR THIRD-PARTY SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE DURING EXAMINATION.

SEC. 223. PROVIDING FOR THIRD-PARTY SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE DURING EXAMINATION. (a) Amendment.—Section 1 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1051) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(f) A third party may submit for consideration for inclusion in the record of an application evidence relevant to a ground for refusal of registration. The third-party submission shall identify the ground for refusal and include a concise description of each piece of evidence submitted in support of each identified ground for refusal. Not later than 2 months after the date on which the submission is filed, the Director shall determine whether the evidence should be included in the record of the application. The Director shall establish by regulation appropriate procedures for the consideration of evidence submitted by a third party under this subsection and may prescribe a fee to accompany the submission. If the Director determines that the third-party evidence should be included in the record of the application, only the evidence and the ground for refusal to which the evidence relates may be so included. Any determination by the Director whether or not to include evidence in the record of an application shall be final and non-reviewable, and a determination to include or to not include evidence in the record shall not prejudice any party’s right to raise any issue and rely on any evidence in any other proceeding.” . (b) [15 U.S.C. 1051 note] Deadline for Procedures.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish the appropriate procedures described in section 1(f) of the Trademark Act of 1946, as added by subsection (a). (c) [15 U.S.C. 1051 note] Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.