15 U.S.C. § 1056
Section 1056 · Disclaimer of unregistrable matter
This is § 6 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act)
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 59 court decisions — leading case Country Floors Inc v. A Partnership Composed of Gepner and Ford (1991)
Most recently applied in Royal Crown Co. v. Coca-Cola Co. (June 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Director may require the applicant to disclaim an unregistrable component of a mark otherwise registrable. An applicant may voluntarily disclaim a component of a mark sought to be registered.
No disclaimer, including those made under subsection (e) of section 1057 of this title, shall prejudice or affect the applicant's or registrant's rights then existing or thereafter arising in the disclaimed matter, or his right of registration on another application if the disclaimed matter be or shall have become distinctive of his goods or services.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1999—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–113 substituted “Director” for “Commissioner”.
1988—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–667 substituted “subsection (e)” for “paragraph (d)”.
1962—Pub. L. 87–772, among other changes, provided that an applicant may voluntarily disclaim a component of a mark sought to be registered.
Effective Date of 1999 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, §4731] of Pub. L. 106–113, set out as a note under section 1 of Title 35, Patents.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–667 effective one year after Nov. 16, 1988, see section 136 of Pub. L. 100–667, set out as a note under section 1051 of this title.
Repeal and Effect on Existing Rights
Repeal of inconsistent provisions, effect of this chapter on pending proceedings and existing registrations and rights under prior acts, see notes set out under section 1051 of this title.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of Commerce, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Commerce, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 5 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.