New Canadian Trademarks Regime Effective June 17, 2019
Published:
January 23, 2019
Author(s):
On June 17, 2019, big changes to Canada’s Trademarks Act (the law that protects, essentially, a brand) fundamentally altering Canada’s trade-mark ownership and protection regime will finally take effect. The looming changes, in the works for five years, fundamentally shift Canada’s trade-marks legal regime and eliminate the requirement for use of the trade-mark before registering it. And this will have a very real and practical business impact.
Trademarks can be an extremely valuable business asset: most businesses identify their business, products or services with a unique trade-mark. The changes will make it more difficult and more costly for businesses to protect their trademarks, potentially dampening their development of new brands in Canada. Businesses that plan to renew or apply for trade-mark registrations might still have time to renew or apply before the changes take effect – but only if they act now.
Read about the good, the bad and the ugly of the key changes to Canada’s trademarks law that will take effect on June 17, 2019, here.
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