IFA APPLAUDS HOUSE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO RESOLVE CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADEMARK & EMPLOYMENT LAW

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></strong></span></span></p>

Contact:</span></strong>
Jenna Weisbord, 310-995-0839
jweisbord@franchise.org
@</a>franchising411</a></span></span></p>

IFA APPLAUDS HOUSE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO RESOLVE CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADEMARK & EMPLOYMENT LAW</span></span></span></strong></span></span></p>

              Bipartisan Bill Would Protect Trademarks for Thousands of Franchises</span></em></span></span></p>

(WASHINGTON, D.C., AUG. 7) – The International Franchise Association (IFA) today praised the introduction of the Trademark Licensing Protection Act of 2019 (TLPA), introduced in the House by Representatives Steve Chabot (R-OH), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Doug Collins (R-GA), Lou Correa (D-CA), and Ben Cline (R-VA).</span></span></p>

This legislation mirrors S.2439, introduced in the Senate by Sens. Angus King (I-ME), James Lankford (R-OK), John Cornyn (R-TX), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).</span></span></p>

The Trademark Licensing and Protection Act (H.R. 4164) aims to resolve the uncertainty in federal law by confirming that brand standards designed to preserve or enhance the brand may not be used as evidence of employment controls in litigation. In a study conducted by the IFA, research found that franchise businesses have seen a 93 percent increase in lawsuits due to this type of legal uncertainty.</span></span></p>

Franchise businesses depend on their trademarks to ensure consumers with consistent standards of safety, reliability, and quality regardless of the small businesses’ location.  While trademark law requires franchises to establish brand controls to guarantee uniformity, the improper application of federal and state employment law penalizes franchise brand companies for establishing those same controls; inaccurately holding them as “joint employers” with their franchise owners.</span></span></p>

“As a franchisee, I own my own businesses and manage my own employees,” said multi-unit franchise owner and IFA chairman David Barr. “This bill will help foster stronger relationships between franchise brands and their franchise owners by allowing our contract terms to be in harmony with laws related to brand protection and labor and employment.”</span></span></p>

“Franchise businesses are in a Catch-22 that has festered long enough due to lingering uncertainty about joint employer status under federal law,” said Matt Haller, IFA’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations & Public Affairs. “They are at once required to maintain brand standards, while at the same time have been held liable for their efforts to maintain them. This bill is an elegant solution to that complicated problem. America’s 733,000 franchise small businesses are grateful for the leadership of the House on this bipartisan issue.”</span></span></p>

Franchising is an arrangement when a name brand company grants a local owner the right to use its trademark, business systems, and processes to produce and market a good or service.  The business owner usually pays a one-time franchise fee and a percentage of sales revenue as royalty.  </span></span></p>

IFA appreciates the bipartisan work of Representatives Chabot, Cuellar, Collins, Correa, and Cline on this important bill for franchising nationwide. Franchising directly creates 7.6 million American jobs and contributes $404.6 billion to our country’s GDP. </span></span></p>

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About the International Franchise Association</span></strong>
Celebrating 58 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 733,000</span> franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct jobs, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology</span> and business development.</span></span></p></div>

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