Region: Canada

Canada’s 2018 budget plan has unveiled the first aspects of the country’s national intellectual property strategy. Although the importance of IP is much-vaunted throughout the policy statement, brand rights take a backseat in the highly patent-focused IP strategy announcements.

06 March 2018

With the new Canadian trademark regime on the horizon, rights holders should consider whether to wait or to implement a filing strategy before the present system becomes a thing of the past.

01 March 2018

Canada is finally completing the last steps necessary for implementing its new trademark law, which will introduce significant changes. 

15 February 2018

An individual has successfully sued a production company for breach of privacy for using film footage of her taken without her permission.

25 January 2018

The Federal Court has dismissed an application for trademark infringement, passing off and unfair competition on the basis that there was no likelihood of confusion between the inherently non-distinctive marks EXCHANGE-A-BLADE and TRADE-A-BLADE.

10 January 2018

The Federal Court of Appeal has found a likelihood of confusion between the partly faded trademarks of two direct competitors in the Canadian luggage and bag marketplace, Wenger and Travelway.

02 January 2018

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement suggests that Canada sides with the European Union on the value of geographical indication protection. However, renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement could result in a more nuanced regime

01 January 2018

Steven Garland has over 25 years of experience in IP litigation of all types, including issues relating to patent, trademark, copyright, industrial designs, trade secrets and competition law. He has acted in many patent litigation matters that have involved a wide variety of subjects, including chemical, biochemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnological, telephony, mechanical and computer and internet subject matters. He has appeared as counsel in IP cases at both the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court and Court of Appeal, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the Court of Appeal of British Columbia and the Supreme Court of Canada. He also appears before the Patent Appeal Board and the Trademarks Opposition Board. He has also been retained as a mediator in IP disputes.

01 January 2018

Canadian courts have demonstrated a shift in the interpretation of use of a trademark. Brand owners should consider how they engage online with consumers in order to maintain protection.

01 January 2018

In <em>Estée Lauder Cosmetics Ltd v Loveless</em>, the Federal Court of Canada considered the issue of whether the provision of sample goods (as opposed to the actual sale of goods) constitutes use of a trademark in association with those goods. 

06 December 2017