The Canadian Olympic Committee ("COC") has recently sent a cease and desist letter to The North Face, alleging that its clothing and outerwear is in violation of trade-mark law. The COC takes specific issue with the colours, symbols, and flags…
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For those who have been following my posts on the legal battle between Pirate Joe's and Trader Joe's (links: Part 1 and Part 2) can interpolate that the owner of Pirate Joe's, Michael Hallatt, is an entrepreneur with a vision. …
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In 1999, De Niro's Supper Club was a popular restaurant establishment in downtown Vancouver. At the time, the city was experiencing a large commercial growth in the film industry and often referred to as "Hollywood North". Unfortunately for the owners…
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On October 28, 2013 the Canadian Parliament tabled legislation in Bill C-8 to update the Trade-marks Act. I say again, since, prior to the recent prorogation of Parliament, these similar changes were already tabled by the old Bill C-56. It…
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For those of you who have been following the heated battle between US-based Trader Joe's and Canada-based Pirate Joe's (refer to my previous blog post here), a major decision was handed down in Washington state courts today. The US court…
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In the early 20th century, steam engines were in popular use, and required oil lubricants. Some steam engines used a plant-based, golden-coloured oil called rapeseed oil. Unfortunately, rapeseed oil was not used widely for human consumption due to a bitter…
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It might come as news to many readers that the popular and now-ubiquitous iPHONE trademark was not originally owned by Apple. In fact, in the US, the trademark (in association with handheld communication devices) was originally owned by CISCO, and…
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A store in Vancouver was recently sued for selling popular "Trader Joe's" products which it had imported across the United States border for resale in Canada. However, it was not sued for grey market importation or any other breach of…
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Clients often ask me whether it is a good idea to register a trade-mark, since the common law action of passing off is available to them anyways. The answer is absolutely yes. While passing off is an action available to…
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A client of mine recently inquired whether they were able to sign the Declaration of Use, which is the last step in the registration process for applications filed on the basis of proposed use. That is, they had not yet…
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