Knowledge

Domain Name

Canada’s Internet Goes Bilingual

2013 has started with good news for Canadian Internet users, businesses and trademark/domain name owners who do business here. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) announced in early January that the .ca registry now supports the use of the full range of French characters in .ca domain names. Until now, .ca domain names were restricted to the letters a to z, the numbers 0 to 9 and hyphens, leaving Francophone Internet users with no choice but to register French words without the benefit of the accented letters or ligatures é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, and ÿ. Read More

Litigation, Trademark

Professional designations: clarity at last

The Federal Court has confirmed that professional designations may function as certification marks, provided the professional designation meets the criteria for certification marks set out in the Trade-marks Act. Read More

Trademark

Amending Canada’s Trademark Regime

The proposed amendments to the regulations seek to simplify opposition procedures, and include modifications to measures relating to the examination of trademarks, with the stated intention that transactions between applicants and the Registrar of Trade-marks be streamlined. Feedback from the public has been received and is now being considered by the Trade-marks Office. Read More

Litigation, Trademark

Quashing a Trademark Registration

For the first time, the Federal Court has granted an order by which a Canadian trademark registration was quashed and the matter was sent back to the Registrar of Trade-marks to consider a Statement of Opposition against the application, where the statement had been filed with the registrar prior to the expiry of the advertisement period, but had not been considered by it (London Life Insurance Company v Registrar of Trade-marks and Debt Freedom Canada Inc). Read More

Litigation, Trademark

Non-Traditional Trademarks Unleashed

As previously reported, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc’s (MGM) 20-year battle to register its sound mark in Canada finally culminated in victory. The iconic lion’s roar claimed its rightful place on the Canadian Trade-marks Register as of July 31, 2012, under registration no. TMA828890 for the MGM Roaring Lion (sound only), opening the door to more than a dozen new sound mark applications — among them the Mockingjay Call from the motion picture ; The Hunger Games, and the ever-familiar Tarzan Yell. These and other sound marks are now accessible through the new ‘Canadian Trade-marks—Access to Sound Marks’ database created by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Read More