trademarkscanada

Trademark Scams

Jack Smugler — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:02:02 +0000

Several recent scams involving trademarks have come to our attention. They both involve what appear to be invoices and they come by mail and ask for a large amount of money in order to have your trademark published in a ‘catalogue’

1) TM-Edition: This company, based in Hungary, asks you to send them $1,450 and in return your trademark will be listed in their ‘International Catalogue of Trademarks, 2011.’ This is NOT a government registry and paying this amount does not protect your trademark.
2) Trademark Info Corp: This company, which asks you to send $1,615.00 to a Toronto address, will then publish your trademark in their “Trade-mark Publication.” once again this is an obscure catalogue that is not associated with either the government or your trademark rights.

My recommendation is that you ignore these two solicitations.

Incorporation does NOT protect your brand!

Jack Smugler — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:45:53 +0000

Having a registered company is NOT enough to prevent others from stealing your brand name. If that’s your concern, a registered trademark is the only real protection you can get. A company name is NOT the same thing as a brand name. Your company name is also called a trade name – a name you use to do business. A brand name – also called a trademark – identifies your products. (Think of Apple Inc. (company name) and the iPhone (brand name), or Pepsico Inc. (company name) and Pepsi (the name of the drink – brand name).

Can I use an English trademark in Quebec?

Jack Smugler — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:17:55 +0000

The Quebec Charter of the French Language contains provisions that are intended to protect the French language within Quebec. The regulations under the Charter provide a specific exemption for “a recognized trade-mark within the meaning of the Trade-marks Act … unless a French version has been registered. “ Thus, a trademark registered with CIPO is exempt from the Charter. It is not clear whether an unregistered trademark would also be covered. Your safest course of action is to register the trademark if you intend to use it in English in Quebec.