2023 was an active year in Canadian trademark law. Canadian Courts addressed a wide range of issues, from licensing to comparative advertising to co-branding. Notable changes also emerged from the Canadian Trademarks...more
1/30/2024
/ Advertising ,
Bad Faith ,
Brand ,
Canada ,
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Foreign Language ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
Speakers: Kwan T Loh, Olivier Jean-Lévesque, Nora Labbancz, Reagan Seidler
In this webinar, Smart & Biggar's Trademarks team will provide a roundup of Canadian IP law by highlighting some of the most important new laws,...more
Trying some healthy habits in 2024? Your trademarks want you to do the same! A trademark has value when it is distinct and enforceable. Even registered marks can lose value if proper “trademark hygiene” is not followed...more
1/3/2024
/ Brand ,
Canada ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
IP Portfolio ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
If a picture is worth a thousand words, that makes a meme worth about 50 tweets. It’s therefore no surprise that so many companies are interested in leveraging memes in marketing. But as with all advertising, certain rules...more
The proverbial brand owner’s guidebook became a little bigger in 2022. Developments in practice opened new avenues for securing and enforcing trademark rights over the past year, including an “accelerated” path to trademark...more
Unlike in the United States, brand names in foreign languages are not automatically protected in Canada. No “doctrine of foreign equivalents” exists to expand a brand owner’s monopoly across linguistic lines. This leaves even...more
The Federal Court of Canada, in a May 2022 decision,1 has ordered a B.C. man’s trademark registration to be expunged for “bad faith” after finding it was filed solely for the purpose of resale. This is the first decision in...more
Under the Trademarks Act, a trademark that clearly describes (or deceptively misdescribes) where a good or service comes from often cannot be registered. What then does a “place of origin” encompass – a city? a country? a...more
If a latte is poured without anyone to photograph it, does it make a design?
Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are this century’s silver screen. They’re the way people stay in touch, share artistry, and learn about the...more
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a rare copyright decision, unanimously held that copyright collectives cannot charge fees to those who decline their contracts. The ruling can be expected to affect how a number of copyrights...more
On December 3, 2020, the Federal Court of Appeal released its first decision providing guidance on the standard for obtaining leave to appeal interlocutory decisions under section 6.11(1) of the Patented Medicines (Notice of...more
Update: The Federal Court updated the Guidelines on May 18, 2021, which can be found here.
The Federal Court has released a new consolidated practice direction, Case and Trial Management Guidelines for Complex...more
11/30/2020
/ Amended Regulation ,
Canada ,
Case Management ,
Complex Litigation ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Evidence ,
Expert Witness ,
Health Canada ,
Patented Medicines ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
PMNOC Regulations ,
Trials