A trade mark is a word, a design, or a combination of these, used to identify the goods or services of one person or organization and to distinguish these goods or services from those of others in the marketplace.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office is the government body responsible for the administration and processing of intellectual property in Canada.
When the Office of the Registrar of Trade-marks receives your application, it will first conduct a search of its trade mark records to locate any existing or pending trade mark with which your trade mark may be in conflict; if one is found, the Office will inform you of this fact.
It will then examine the application for compliance with the requirements of the Trade-marks Act and Trade-marks Regulations, and will inform you of requirements which are not met by the application or of any objection to the registration of your trade-mark.
After this, your application will be published in the Trade-marks Journal for two months during which time any opposition may be filed against your application.
If no oppositions are filed against your mark, or if any opposition filed has been decided in your favour, your mark will proceed to the next stage.
If you have begun using your mark in Canada and have declared the same to the Office of the Registrar, your mark will be registered.
If you have not yet used your mark and your application is based on “proposed use,” you will be asked for a declaration stating that you have commenced use of the trade-mark. If you have not yet commenced using the trade mark, you may request extensions of time until your trade mark is actually in use. Until such time as you have declared use, your mark will not register.
Registration of your trade mark gives you the exclusive right to use the mark across Canada for 15 years; registration is renewable every 15 years after that.
One responsibility of a trade mark owner in Canada is to actively use the mark in Canada. If the trade mark is not in use, the registration is liable to be expunged from the Register of Trade-marks by either the Registrar of Trade-marks or the Federal Court.
If you have any more questions about trademark registration please see our FAQs or call us free on 0800 862 0370
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