Intellectual Property Funding Support for Companies in Ontario
March 18, 2024
Strategic Intellectual Property (IP) management is an important factor in a company’s success. Protecting IP can help attract investors, fend of competitors, and expand your market. The biggest hurdles for companies, especially startups, when it comes to IP management is the combination…
Read MoreTrademark changes will happen June 17, 2019
November 28, 2018
We finally have a date: June 17, 2019. That is the date on which a huge number of changes to Canadian trademark law will finally take effect. Ever since the changes were first introduced in legislation in 2014, we have been talking with clients about the nature…
Read MoreChanges to the Canadian Trademark Regulations
May 21, 2018
The Canadian trademark regime is about to undergo significant changes in the coming months. The changes are motivated primarily by a desire to modernize the Canadian IP system by joining several international treaties, namely the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (Singapore Treaty),…
Read MoreAre trademarks in association with computer software goods evolving with technology?
August 11, 2017
Computer software companies are cognizant of evolving challenges relating to patentable subject matter. Computer software companies should also consider managing trademark portfolios by evaluating whether existing trademark registrations may be at risk of expungement. Under the current Trade-marks…
Read MorePotential Perils of Relying on Unregistered Intellectual Property Rights
May 02, 2017
Companies sometimes decide to forgo registering intellectual property rights and hope that they will have some protection under the law without having formally registered such rights. A recent case highlighted some of the perils in attempting to rely on unregistered intellectual property rights to…
Read MoreThe trademark “Green Rush” is on in Canada
March 15, 2017
While marijuana has been legal for medicinal purposes in Canada since 2001, the marijuana industry has only recently seen a high level of trademark activity. Annual trademark filings for marijuana-related goods and services began accelerating in 2012 and there was much activity from 2014 to 2017. …
Read MoreKeyword Advertising: When “Sponsored Links” Can Get You in Hot Water
February 28, 2017
With catchphrases such as “search engine optimization”, “AdWords”, and “pay-per-click” dominating the online marketing vernacular, it is helpful for commercial entities and marketing professionals to be cognizant of potential trademark law issues that may arise when engaging in promotional activities.…
Read MoreSame trade-mark and similar goods? No problem if sold through different channels of trade
January 15, 2014
This case illustrates the potential advantages of explicitly excluding certain goods from your trade-mark application. Let’s suppose you are a tire manufacturer with the registered mark POTENZA for “tires, tubes and wheels” that you have held for 30 years. A high-end Italian bicycle…
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