A Guide to Trade-marks: Glossary

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A 

Abandonment

An application for trade-mark registration may be considered abandoned if the applicant does not take steps to complete the process.

Advertisement

Publication of a trade-mark application in the Trade-marks Journal. Details are published to allow opportunity for challenges to the application (opposition).

Allowance

Acknowledgement by the Trade-marks Office that an application is eligible for registration. The applicant receives a "Notice of Allowance" (not the same as "Certificate of Registration").

Assignment

Transfer of trade-mark rights from the owner to another party.

C 

Certification marks

Marks identifying goods or services meeting a defined standard (e.g. the Woolmark design on clothing).

Clearly descriptive

A word that clearly describes a feature of a product or service and therefore is not registrable as a trade-mark.

Copyright

Provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer progams), and three other subject-matter known as: performance, sound recording and communication signal.

Corporations Canada

The branch of Industry Canada that administers the CBCA, and the office with which all filings, such as articles of incorporation, are made.

D 

Deceptively misdescriptive

A word that may not be registered as a trade-mark or part of a trade-mark because it is misleading.

Disclaimer

A statement that a certain word or portion of a trade-mark is not protected.

Distinguishing guise

The shaping of wares or their containers, or a mode ofwrapping or packaging wares.

E 

Examination

The process through which the Trade-marks Office determines whether an application for trade-mark registration warrants granting registration.

F 

Fees

Specific sums payable to the Trade-marks Office for various services.

Filing date

The date a completed application is officially received at the Trade-marks Office and filed (not to be confused with registration).

I 

Incorporation

The act of establishing a corporation by filing the required documents.

Industrial design

The visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament (or any combination of these features), applied to a finished article of manufacture.

Infringement (of a trade-mark)

Violation of trade-mark rights through unauthorized use of a trade-mark.

Integrated circuit topography

The three-dimensional configuration of the electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs.

Intellectual property

A form of creative endeavour that can be protected through a trade-mark, patent, copyright, industrial design or integrated circuit topography.

L 

Licensee

If an entity is licensed by or with the authority of the owner to use the mark, and the owner has direct or indirect control over the character or quality of the wares or services with which the mark is used, then the licensee's use of the mark or a trade-name including the mark is deemed to have, and to always have had, the same effect as use by the owner.

O 

Opposition

The process whereby members of the public may object to the granting of a trade-mark registration if they have valid grounds for doing so.

P 

Patent

Covers new inventions (process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter), or any new and useful improvement of an existing invention.

Plant breeders' denomination

A plant variety denomination is a right which is granted to the owner for the control over the multiplication and sale of reproductive material for a particular plant variety.

Place of origin

A word or depiction that designates the origin of a product or service and therefore may not be registered as a trade-mark.

Preliminary search

The search of Trade-marks Office records one should undertake before submitting an application for trade-mark registration. The search may turn up conflicting trade-marks and show that the application process would be in vain.

Pre-publication verification

A second search of Trade-marks Office records to ensure no confusing trade-marks exist before a given application is published in the Trade-marks Journal.

Prima facie

Sufficient to establish a fact or to raise a presumption of fact unless rebuted: prima facie evidence.

Prohibited marks

Marks which are specifically prohibited from use through subsection 9(1) of the Trade-marks Act.

Proposed use

A statement indicating intention to use a certain trade-mark and how that use will occur.

Protected geographical indication

A geographical indication is an indication which identifies that a wine or spirit originates from a territory where a quality, reputation or other characteristics of the wine or spirit is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and which is listed on the List of Geographical Indications kept by the Registrar.

R 

Registration

The granting of formal recognition of a trade-mark by the Trade-marks Office.

Registered trade-mark

A trade-mark entered on the federal government's Trade-marks Register, which formally recognizes the owner's rights to the mark.

Registrar of Trade-marks

The official responsible for the Trade-marks Office.

T 

Trade-mark

A word, symbol or design (or combination of these), used to distinguish the wares or services of one person or organization from those of others in the marketplace.

Trade-mark agent

A trade-mark agent is a person whose name is entered on the list of trade-mark agents and who is therefore entitled to practice before the Trade-marks Office.

Trade-marks Act

Federal legislation governing trade-mark registration in Canada.

Trade-marks Journal

A publication of the Trade-marks Office issued weekly and containing all approved applications and Office rulings.

Trade-marks Office

The federal government agency responsible for registering trade-marks in Canada.

Trade-marks records

The inventory of registered trade-marks and pending applications maintained electronically by the Trade-marks Office in Gatineau, Quebec.

Trade-marks Register

The official listing of registered trade-marks.

Trade name

The name under which a company chooses to operate. Trade names may or may not also be considered trade-marks, depending on the circumstances.

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A Guide to Trade-marks
| Table of Contents | Introduction | Making sure your Trade-mark can be Registered | The Trade-mark Registration Process | Other Procedures | For More Information | Fees | Appendix A - Twenty Common Questions About Trade-marks | Appendix B - Format of the Application | Appendix C - Your Trade-mark Application | Glossary |