Recent Articles

Domain Tasting in Decline

November 20, 2008 01:23

In an update to an earlier post regarding domain name tasting, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently reported that the number of names registered and deleted during the Add Grace Period (AGP) declined from approximately 17.6 million in June 2008 to 2.8 million in J...

Flattery is Still Infringement

November 15, 2008 14:03

A story in the Globe and Mail this week illustrates that the use of a popular logo may be a form of flattery to the owner, but the owner will still be concerned about infringement of its IP rights.  Gordon DeRosa, after 21 years of public service, is again running for re-election to the Trail City [...

Canada™: Second Best?

November 14, 2008 18:26

Continuing on with the recent spate of brand rankings we’ve commented upon recently, news that Canada has been rated the second best global brand in the 2008 FutureBrand Country Brand Index.  The Index purports to be a comprehensive study, combining the views of 2,700 business and leisure ...

The Perils of Insufficient Evidence in Trademark Cases

November 12, 2008 20:31

Whatever the advantages of not submitting certain evidence, such as expediency, complexity, or risk of ambiguity, the Federal Court of Appeal decision, Shell Canada Limited v. P.T. Sari Incofood Corporation demonstrates the significant risk of this course of action. Shell Canada opposed the...

Team Canada - No Go on Logo

November 03, 2008 23:28

A recent story reports that Team Canada may not be able to use the iconic Maple Leaf logo of Hockey Canada on its uniforms for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.  Apparently, International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations prohibit sports associations from displaying their logos on uniforms used at the ...

Reckless Fan Sites Reigned In

October 29, 2008 18:05

According to a recent story, Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams, is trying to control use of his image and name on unofficial websites, such as bryanadamsfanclub.nl , bryanadams.nu and badfan.com.  Apparently, Adams is using Web Sheriff, an internet-policing company that helps celebrities and o...

Bank Brands Going Bust?

October 22, 2008 20:47

A few weeks ago, we reported on the results of Interbrand’s 2008 Best Global Brands Survey, observing that the survey’s big losers, year-over-year, were financial services companies. Of course, conditions in that industry have deteriorated significantly since then, so it is no surprise...

Intersection of Vancouver 2010 Olympic Trademarks and the Arts

October 22, 2008 00:55

According to a recent story, the Vancouver Organizing Committe for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (VANOC) in conjunction with the Artists’ Legal Outreach is conducting a workshop regarding the potential impact of the Olympic and Paralymic Marks Act  (the “Act”) on artists’ wor...

Comparing Apple to Apple

October 07, 2008 17:40

A report in the Globe and Mail tells the story of a small Vancouver Island school’s run in with tech heavyweight Apple Inc. in a dispute over the use of the school’s logo.  Victoria School of Business and Technology (VSBT) reportedly adopted, three years ago, a logo featuring an apple wi...

CIPO’s Electronic Services Outage

October 02, 2008 17:22

For those of us who have embraced - and perhaps take for granted - the ease and convenience of filing documents online with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, the last two days have been trying ones.  All systems of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, including the Trademark Database ...