There are two main reasons to incorporate a business – one is to take advantage of certain tax benefits of incorporation, and the other is to limit personal liability. Both of these advantages stem from the fact that a company…
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People say love is grand, and divorce is a hundred grand. Or, in the case of Johnston v Johnston Estate, divorce is at least six hundred grand… The division of family property is a common source of stress during separation.…
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A recent Federal Court of Appeal decision upheld the trial decision that Société Laurentides Inc. ("SLI") did not infringe the trade-mark of Osmose-Pentox Inc.("OPI"). SLI produced wood primers under the name "wood conservator", and OPI is the registered owner of…
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Recently, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ("ICBC") lost a trade-mark dispute against Stainton Ventures Ltd. ("Stainton"), which owns the website <ICBCadvice.com>. A full version of the decision is available here. As a brief summary of the trial case,…
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I came across an interesting case today: Islamic Society of North America - Canada v. Bank of Montreal, in which the Trade-Marks Opposition Board ("TMOB") was asked to consider whether HALAL was distinctive for the purposes of identifying mortgages, mutual…
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Every year, I recommend that businesses perform a "checkup" on their branding and advertising to ensure proper usage of their trademarks. First, recall that even though a trademark may be registered, this alone does not ensure protection - a trademark…
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On June 19, 2014 the Canadian government ratified a bill which will modernize our current Trade-marks Act, and with it comes sweeping changes to the methods and processes behind trademark registration and enforcement. While the bill received royal assent, changes…
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I'd like to chime in about the recent trademark news concerning the Washington Redskins football team. If you are unaware of the recent controversy, the story begins at least as early as 1992, when Suzan Harjo and six other plaintiffs…
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Scotiabank acquired ING Bank of Canada in 2012, and in November of 2013, applied for a trade-mark for a new name for the banking subsidiary, TANGERINE. The name is fresh and allows the continued use of the bright orange formerly…
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Businesses need to plan ahead and consider future markets for their trademarks. The popular photo-sharing website PINTEREST.COM ("Pinterest") failed to secure trademark rights in Europe in November 2013 when the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market ("OHIM") determined that…
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