§ 87-134. Registration; assignment; change of name; other recordings; fees.
AI-assisted research summary: This section lets trademark assignments and related documents be recorded with the secretary, sets fees for recording and amendments, and requires certain fees to be remitted and distributed. An unrecorded assignment can be void against a later purchaser without notice.
(1) Any mark and its registration under the Trademark Registration Act is assignable with the goodwill of the business in which the mark is used or with that part of the goodwill of the business connected with the use of and symbolized by the mark. Assignment shall be by instruments in writing duly executed and may be recorded with the secretary upon the payment of a fee payable to the secretary who, upon recording of the assignment, shall issue in the name of the assignee a new certificate for the remainder of the term of the registration or of the last renewal thereof. The fee shall be thirty dollars if the instrument is submitted in writing and twenty-five dollars if the instrument is submitted electronically pursuant to section 84-511. An assignment of any registration under the Trademark Registration Act is void as against any subsequent purchaser for valuable consideration without notice unless it is recorded with the secretary within three months after the date of the assignment or prior to such subsequent purchase. (2)(a) Any registrant or applicant effecting a change of the name of the person to whom the mark was issued or for whom an application was filed or a change of address or state of incorporation or organization may record a certificate of such change with the secretary upon the payment of a fee of thirty dollars if submitted in writing and twenty-five dollars if submitted electronically pursuant to section 84-511. A registrant or an applicant may be required to submit documented proof of its name change at the discretion of the secretary. (b) The secretary may issue in the name of the assignee a certificate of registration of an assigned application. The secretary may issue in the name of the assignee a new certificate of registration for the remainder of the term of the registration or last renewal of the registration. (3) Other instruments which relate to a mark registered or application pending pursuant to the act, such as licenses, security interests, or mortgages, may be recorded in the discretion of the secretary if the instrument is in writing and duly executed. (4) Acknowledgment shall be prima facie evidence of the execution of an assignment or other instrument and, when recorded by the secretary, the record shall be prima facie evidence of execution. (5) A photocopy of any instrument referred to in this section shall be accepted for recording if it is certified by any of the parties to the instrument, or their successors, to be a true and correct copy of the original. (6) In a registration that resulted from an application that was filed before the effective date of a change to the Trademark Registration Act or any rules or regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to the act, the registrant may be allowed to file an amendment to the registration in order to comply with the current requirements of the act and the rules and regulations. The registrant shall pay a fee for such amendment of thirty dollars if submitted in writing and twenty-five dollars if submitted electronically pursuant to section 84-511. (7) The fees imposed under this section shall be payable to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall remit all such fees collected to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall credit sixty percent of the fees to the General Fund and forty percent of the fees to the Secretary of State Cash Fund. History: Laws 2000, LB 626, § 9; Laws 2012, LB886, § 3; Laws 2020, LB910, § 41.