Trademark changes
Daniela Bassan and Divya Subramanian
The Canadian Trade-marks Act will be amended effective June 17, 2019.
As a result, the Act will undergo a complete overhaul on various aspects of trademark prosecution, registration, and enforcement. These changes include:
- Elimination of the “use” requirement in trademark applications
- Expansion of the definition of trademark to cover non-traditional marks
- New administrative process for invalidating an official mark
- New international filings for trademark applications
- Shorter term of registration from 15 years to 10 years
- Introduction of “bad faith” as a basis to oppose trademark applications
These and other changes to IP law were highlighted previously in the article, Proposed Changes to IP Law: Will they impact your business?
Further discussion
Stewart McKelvey’s Intellectual Property Law Group has extensive experience assisting clients to develop, protect and enforce their IP rights. If you would like to discuss the above changes or how they may impact your business, please contact a member of our Intellectual Property team.
Archive
Jennifer Taylor The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has acknowledged the ongoing impact of systemic racism against African Nova Scotians in an important decision on the Land Titles Clarification Act (“LTCA”). The case,…
Read MoreEffective July 1, 2020, the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) was officially replaced by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (“CUSMA”). Like NAFTA, CUSMA contains provisions for the temporary entry of foreign “business persons” to Canada…
Read MoreKillian McParland and Jennifer Thompson In a decision released earlier today, Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller¹, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that an agreement requiring Uber drivers to go to arbitration instead of suing…
Read MoreStephanie Stapleford, Mike Carver, Matthew Craig, Kimberly MacLachlan and Christine Pound Part 2: Electronically-Signed Share Certificates The COVID-19 crisis, and federal, provincial and local government directives for individuals to continue complying with social distancing policies…
Read MoreJoe Thorne and Kara Harrington Vexatious litigants are a category of persons who misuse the court process through repeated improper, abusive, and/or meritless proceedings. Vexatious litigants may take many forms, but ultimately they are a…
Read MoreWe are pleased to present the sixth issue of Discovery, our very own legal publication targeted to educational institutions in Atlantic Canada. During these unprecedented times, universities and colleges are encountering unique challenges of working…
Read MoreTwila Reid and John Samms On Friday, June 12, 2020, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced it has extended the time period under section 50 of the Labour Standards Act (“the Act”) that converts…
Read MoreKathleen Leighton Those who have vacation homes or cottages in Canada may be starting to form their summer plans as temperatures begin to rise. However, the ongoing pandemic has resulted in a host of…
Read More*Flowchart below last updated June 2, 2020 (Originally published April 14, 2020) Dante Manna With the passing of Bill C-14, the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act, No. 2 on April 11, 2020, the federal government has…
Read MoreBurtley Francis Recently, the Government published for public comment draft legislation referred to as the Time Limits and Other Periods Act (COVID-19). The underlying purpose of the draft legislation, which was published on May 20,…
Read More