Organisation: Canadian Intellectual Property Office

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has announced that it is now accepting applications to register sound marks and has set forth the criteria for sound mark applications. This is a major new development in Canadian trademark law after a two-decade-long battle over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s ‘roaring lion’ sound mark.

11 April 2012

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced that it will accept applications for the registration of trademarks consisting of sounds, with immediate effect. With a consultation period on the country’s trademark regulations currently open, future changes to the treatment of non-traditional marks could soon follow.

30 March 2012

If a recent decision of a CIRA panel under the CIRA Domain Name Dispute and Resolution Policy is followed, the ability of trademark owners to establish 'rights' in a trademark sufficient to succeed in a CDRP proceeding will be greatly expanded. The scope of a trademark owner's rights was considered in a case involving Twenga SA and the unidentified registrant of the domain name 'twenga.ca'.

15 February 2012