An overview of what the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement would change in Canadian policy The Government of Canada is inviting Canadians to read and comment on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), along with the government’s Summary of the Agreement, which provides an overview of how the TPP would affect Canada. The summary suggests that the largest […]
As discussed in Allison McLean’s “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes coming to the Trade-marks Act” June 5, 2014 post, significant changes to the Canadian Trade-marks Act were introduced in Bill C-31, the 2014 budget bill. While the most controversial aspect of the trade-mark provisions of Bill C-31 is the removal of the need to claim or declare use in […]
Bill C-31, the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act No. 1, which will legislate into law the federal government’s recent budget, includes amendments to a number of statutes. Of particular interest are the amendments to the Trade-marks Act (“TMA”). The changes would reverse what has been the fundamental basis of Canadian trade-mark law for over 150 […]
In Woodpecker Hardwood Floors (2000) Inc v Wiston International Trade Co, Ltd (2013 BCCA 553), the BC Court of Appeal denied an appeal to overturn an interlocutory injunction which enjoined the use of a registered trade-mark in an action for passing off. This case is surprising, both due to its strange relationship with judicial precedent […]
Popular online game developer Zynga was recently the subject of a trade-mark infringement claim over their game “Scramble With Friends.” In the England and Wales High Court case, J.W. Spear & Sons Ltd Mattel, Inc & Anor v Zynga, Mattel claimed that the Zynga game infringed their SCRABBLE and SCRAMBLE family of marks.
Bill C-56, a new and inevitably controversial piece of proposed legislation, was introduced on March 1, 2013. With the short title, Combating Counterfeit Products Act, the message seems simple, but contained within it are extensive proposals to change both the Copyright Act and the Trade-marks Act in Canada.