Canadian Trademark Law: Trademarks Act and Regulations
This domain tests the statutory backbone of Canadian trademark practice: the Trademarks Act and Trademarks Regulations, the definition and use of a trademark, and how the registration lifecycle is structured.
Statutory architecture
The Act creates the Register of Trademarks, the Registrar of Trademarks and the core substantive rules. The Regulations supply forms, fees, class requirements, deadlines, service rules and evidence procedure. Know which provision is substantive and which is procedural: s. 2 definitions, s. 4 use, s. 12 registrability, s. 16 entitlement and s. 20 infringement are substantive; s. 30 application contents, s. 37 examination, s. 38 opposition, s. 45 summary expungement and s. 46 renewal are procedural or administrative. If a Regulation conflicts with the Act, the Act prevails.
Use is the organizing concept
Section 4 defines use. For goods, use occurs when goods are sold or transferred in the normal course of trade and the mark is marked on the goods or packaging or associated with them in a notice. For services, use occurs when services are performed or advertised in Canada. Proposed use supports an application but is not use and cannot support a first-use date.
Worked example
A Vancouver software company displays “NORTHSTAR” on its website, which is accessible in Canada, and sells subscriptions to Canadian customers. The mark appears on the login screen and invoices. This is use for services: the services are performed and advertised in Canada. If the company only advertises to Canadians but performs no services and has no Canadian customers, the analysis depends on whether the advertising itself is in Canada and sufficiently associated with the services; advertising alone is not automatic proof of use for goods. For goods, merely displaying a product online is not use; a sale in the normal course of trade with the mark associated is needed.
Traps
Do not treat registration as creating use; do not claim a first-use date for proposed use; do not conflate Canadian use with foreign use; do not cite Regulations when the Act controls; and do not overlook that use must be shown for each good or service.