The state of Utah has passed a bill that would prevent search marketers from purchasing ads linked to keywords or phrases that are the trademarks of competitors. The ‘Trademark Protection Act’ establishes a new kind of mark called an ‘electronic registration mark’ that may not be used to trigger online ads for a competing business.

Utah’s legislators may find the new Act violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Utah’s General Counsel said of the Act, “Because of the potential impact on interstate commerce from the state’s regulation of electronic registration mark use on Internet search engines, this legislation has a high probability of being held to be unconstitutional.”