The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (‘CIPO’) has opened a pre-consultation on proposed amendments to the Trade-marks Regulations. The consultation period runs between October 1 and November 30, 2014.
The proposed amendments are significant, and reflect CIPO’s role in enhancing innovation and contributing to economic success in Canada, as well as recent amendments to the Trade-marks Act contained in Division 25 of the Budget Implementation Act, which received royal assent on June 19, 2014. You can read our blog post from earlier this year on Sweeping Changes to Canada’s Trademark Act.
The amendments will include updates to the regulations governing trademark opposition and new regulations for summary cancellation proceedings. In the consultation documents, CIPO also indicated that given the scope of the amendments to the Act and to the Regulation, changes may also be made to the fee structure at a later date.
The aim of the amendments is to increase legal certainty, to streamline and clarify CIPO’s procedures, and to align Canada’s trade-mark protection regime with international norms. In particular, they will enable Canada to accede to three international trademark treaties, namely the Singapore Treaty on the law of trademarks, the Madrid Protocol on the international registration of marks, and the Nice Agreement on the international classification of goods and services for the purposes of the registration of marks.
Canada’s accession to these treaties will modernize our trademark regime and align it with other international jurisdictions. This will help Canadian businesses stay competitive in international markets by giving them an efficient means of protecting their intellectual property in various jurisdictions around the world, and lower the cost of doing business for those looking to invest in Canadian markets.
During the consultation period, questions on the consultation or feedback on the proposed amendments can be submitted to the attention of Darlene Carreau, Chair of the Trade-marks Opposition Board at CIPO using the following contact information:
50 Victoria Street, Room C232-35B
Gatineau, Québec K1A 0C9
darlene.carreau@ic.gc.ca
Facsimile (819) 953-2476
