Insights

Trademarks and the Federal Government’s IP Strategy

Back in April, the federal government committed $85.3 million over five years “to help Canadian businesses, creators, entrepreneurs and innovators understand, protect and access intellectual property (IP) through a comprehensive IP Strategy.”…

Federal Court rules that gripe site infringes United Airlines’ trademarks and copyright

A recent decision of the Federal Court is an important new precedent for determining when the use of others’ intellectual property to criticize their products and services, including through “gripe sites”, becomes…

Protecting Your Trade-Mark Rights: Police Them or Lose Them

Our friends at Ink Tank posted a great blog the other day about how other businesses can “tread” on your brand – knowingly or not – from “borrowing” distinctive elements of your brand, to unwelcome parodying…

When is it “fair” to copy an original work?

A recent copyright decision of the Federal Court of Canada, namely, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright) v York University, 2017 FC 669, has stirred the conversation around what constitutes ‘fair’ for…

Facebook’s forum selection clause ruled unenforceable

The Supreme Court of Canada has released two landmark decisions in recent days relating to territorial commercial interests on the borderless Internet. This post concerns Douez v Facebook, Inc., 2017 SCC 33, a…

Supreme Court ‘Equusteks’ it to online trademark infringers

This post concerns one of the two recent landmark decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada concerning territorial commercial interests on the borderless Internet. In Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc. 2017 SCC 34,…

GOOGLE: Still a trademark

Looking for the city’s most popular restaurant? Google it! Need to confirm a historical fact? Google it! Doubt as to directions? Google it! The act of “googling” has become common place and…

Trademark provisions under the new Cannabis Act

The federal government’s recently tabled Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) – which will legalize the recreational use of cannabis in Canada –will affect, in one way or another, a wide variety of existing regulatory regimes,…

Interlocutory injunctions in trademark cases – two recent decisions with different results

February saw two notable decisions from Canadian courts on motions for interlocutory injunctions in trademark infringement cases. The Federal Court’s decision in Sleep Country Canada Inc. v. Sears Canada Inc., 2017 FC 148…

Online Trademark Infringement – The Return of “Initial Interest Confusion”

The doctrine of “initial interest confusion” has again surfaced in Canada, and once again in the context of online advertising, confusing domain names and passing off (common-law trademark infringement). We’ve been tracking…

“Fashion Santa” – A Very Seasonal Intellectual Property Dispute

For two Christmas seasons in a row the chic white-bearded 50-something-year-old model, Paul Mason, has donned designer garb and paraded around Yorkdale mall calling himself “Fashion Santa”. Just as we enter into…

New Guidelines for Paid Endorsements and Incentivized Marketing

In a world where businesses are aggressively competing for the attention of consumers, paid online reviews and endorsements are now popular and even commonplace forms of advertisement and promotion. However, this form…

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