3 Reasons Why Startups Need to File Trademarks

Did you know that the combined brand value of the top 50 companies in 2018 is over a trillon dollars? At one point in time, all these companies were startups with zero brand recognition or brand value. You can bet that trademarks played a very integral

#CanITrademarkThisHashtag?

Did you know that 7 out of 10 hashtags used on Instagram are branded related? In today’s digital age, social media plays a large part in a brand’s marketing efforts. Hashtag campaigns, in particular, have become increasingly popular to help build & track brand awareness and

Do I Need to Trademark ALL variations of my logo?

As a startup, how many logo variations have you created for your brand identity? Just one? Two? Three? Startups in today’s world have a plethora of options to market their brand. From social media websites to promotional items (e.g. t-shirts & pens), you can put logos

Absurd Retraction Demand from IMAX in the name of Trademark Infringement

Absurd Retraction Demand from IMAX in the name of Trademark Infringement On June 16, 2015, Ars Technica received a retraction demand from IMAX, requesting Ars to retract a published story that contains a brief reference to IMAX. In a letter written to Ars, IMAX’s Deputy General Counsel

Canada Finally Accepting Trademark Applications for Sounds

As of late March 2012, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is accepting sound-based trademark applications. This policy change follows a 20 year battle with CIPO and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios to trademark its famous lion’s roar. In the past, CIPO took the position that sounds could

Avast Ye! Pirate Joe’s Wins the First Battle

Vancouver-based Pirate Joe’s and its owner, Michael Hallat, won a trademark infringement battle against specialty U.S. grocery giant Trader Joe’s, on October 2, 2013. Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds. Trader Joe’s

Popular media references as evidence of trade-mark fame

The Federal Court recently found the wide-spread fame of the COHIBA trade-marks for cigars and cigarillos was sufficient to reject an application to register the trade-mark LAZARO COHIBA for rum. Tequila Cuervo (“Cuervo”) filed a trade-mark application in February of 1996, for the mark LAZARO COHIBA,

“What’s In A Name?…

…that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Sure, but if you’re selling roses – or anything else for that matter – the name of your business or brand does matter. What’s the value of a McDonald’s Restaurant franchise, if

Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) comes into effect tomorrow, July 1, 2014

We wrote about this new law late last year, and now CASL will be coming into effect tomorrow. The past 2 weeks, businesses have been sending out “opt-in” emails to clients asking for consent to email out messages. CASL affects businesses that send emails, text messages