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Mississauga Trade–mark Lawyer Asks: Is Your Trade–mark Protected?

Heydary Hamilton has trade–mark lawyers with offices in Mississauga, Oakville, Toronto and other parts of the GTA. We are here to assist you in safeguarding your company’s intellectual property, including your trade–mark.

Your trade–mark distinguishes you from the competition. It marks products and services as your own and indicates to potential customers and clients that the quality you are known for is present in that product or service.

Our legal experts can advise you on the best strategy for protecting your trade–mark and maintaining copyright on any intellectual property you create.

Commonly Asked Questions About Trade–marks

As lawyers with many years of experience in trade–mark and copyright law, we are asked a lot of questions. On the subject of trade–marks, the first two we are often asked are: “What goes into a trade–mark?” and “Do I need to register my trade–mark”.

Here are our short answers to those sometimes complex questions.

First, a trade–mark is anything that you use consistently to identify your products as distinct from other, similar products and services. It could be an image, a set of words, or even a string of alphanumeric characters. It can also be a shape or type of packaging. (Two of the most recognizable trade–marks in the world are the name “Coca Cola” and the uniquely shaped Coca–Cola bottle.)

As for registration, it is not necessary. In Canada, the act of using a trade–mark is enough to define ownership, if you can prove that the public recognizes the trade–mark. While you can derive some protection from use of your trade–mark, the act of registering does give you more options for safeguarding and prosecuting against unauthorized use:

  • The rights to registered trade–marks can be protected throughout the country, while rights to unregistered marks can only be enforced in the local areas in which they are used.
  • If your trade–mark is not registered, you cannot initiate legal proceedings in a court of law when the trade–mark is infringed upon–you must rely instead on a procedure known as “passing off.”
  • Once a product is registered for five years, claims that it is being used by another company or person cannot generally be made.
  • If you plan to market your products elsewhere, having a trade–mark registered in Canada can give you priority when registering it in another country.

Heydary Hamilton trade–mark registration services include a NUANS search (to determine if there are similar trade–marks in existence), government application fees, and legal fees for filing your application. For more details, see rates.

For more detailed answers to these questions, or for discussion on any other trade–mark issues of concern to you, we invite you to contact our trade–mark lawyers at 905–365–0445.

Heydary Hamilton PC

42 Village Centre Place
Suite 200
Mississauga ON
L4Z 1V9
Canada

Tel: (905) 366-0445
Fax: (416) 972-9940
Email: mississauga@heydary.com