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IX. Protecting Your Corporate Name
The granting of a corporate name by the Director under the Canada
Business Corporations Act ("CBCA") generally confers a
degree of protection for that corporate name. However, the granting of
names under the CBCA
does not in itself confer any rights to those
names vis-à-vis corporate names or trade names which may have
existed at the time of granting but which did not appear on the
NUANS®
search report or which the Director did not, at the time of granting,
consider likely to cause confusion. Similarly, the granting of a
corporate name may not protect you from earlier or subsequent
trade-marks of other parties.
The following gives a succinct overview of the relationship between
trade name, corporate name and trade-mark rights and some general
guidance as to how you can best protect your corporate name and the
goodwill associated with it.
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Before an applicant applies for a corporate name, it is important
for him or her to ensure that there are no similar existing
corporate names, trade names or trade-marks. A NUANS® search report,
including trade-marks which are registered or proposed for
registration, is required to be filed with articles of
incorporation, amendment, etc. and is usually very reliable. Since,
however, the NUANS® system is not fool-proof, the applicant remains
responsible for any likelihood of confusion.
While a name granted by the Director will appear on future NUANS®
searches required for incorporation in the federal and most
provincial jurisdictions, you may wish to conduct your own NUANS®
searches on a periodic basis after your name has been approved.
This would be done in order to ensure, to your own satisfaction,
that no confusing corporate or business name has subsequently
been approved in the jurisdiction(s) in which you are carrying
on business, and to give you up to date information about
trade-marks that have been applied for or registered subsequent
to the granting of your corporate name.
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Using a corporate name which is similar to a registered trade-mark
may result in liability for infringement of the registered
trade-mark even if the trade-mark was registered after the
corporate name was granted. This is so because, under trade-marks
law, the holder of a corporate name bears the responsibility of
ensuring that no new trade-marks are registered which are confusing
with that name. Information on registered and advertised
trade-marks can be obtained from the Trade-Marks Journal
distributed by the Canadian
Intellectual Property Office *
or by conducting a search of one of the various electronic
trade-mark databases **. The
holder of a corporate name has the right, in certain circumstances,
to oppose the registration of a trade-mark or to have a trade-mark
registration expunged.
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Registration of a trade-mark is the best way to obtain the
exclusive right to use the mark in all of Canada in association
with the products and services for which the registration is
obtained. While the Trade-Marks Office ** can provide basic guidance, it is recommended that
a specialist (a trade-mark agent or trade-mark lawyer) be
consulted. It should be noted that trade-mark registration is not
available for corporate names in all circumstances.
* Canada Communications Group
Publishing
Supply and Services Canada
45 Sacré-Coeur Blvd.
Hull QC K1A 0S9
Telephone: 1 800 635-7943
Fax: (819) 956-4800
** Trade-Marks Office
Industry Canada
Phase I, Place du Portage
Hull QC K1A 0C9
Telephone: (819) 953-8098 re online databases
Telephone: (819) 997-1420 re general enquiries
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