Formal Requirements

The application must meet the formal requirements with respect to such matters as date of first use, an adequate description of the wares and services, address for service, etc.

Entitlement

There must not be anyone who has a better right to either the exact mark, or to a confusingly similar mark. The first person to use a trademark in Canada has the right to both use the trademark and prevent the registration of confusingly similar trademarks, even if they do not register the trademark.

Registrability:

The trademark cannot be:

• primarily merely a name;
• clearly descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive in English or French;
• the name in any other language of the wares or services.

Confusion:

The trademark must not be confusing with

• a prior registered trademark;
• a trademark previously used or made known in Canada, unless it has been abandoned;
• a pending trademark application for a confusingly similar trademark;
• a trade name that has been previously used in Canada, unless it has been abandoned; or
• an official or prohibited mark.