By Caroline Schurman-Grenier If you want to get into business, you’re going to want to have your brand or company stand out. Let’s say you want to start your own production company. You’ll need a name and maybe even a design that differentiates your company from the others; when people see it, they immediately associate it with your company. Think Coco Chanel, Nike or even St-Hubert Barbecue. When we see their logo, name or slogan, we know what we’re dealing with. So what are those all called? They’re called a trademark and can be very important for anyone who wants.

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What is trademark confusion? A trademark exists to identify the source of products and services to customers. Trademark confusion, then, occurs where a customer would be likely to confuse the source of particular products or services with another source – for example, by assuming that someone’s products and services are actually provided by someone else. Section 6 of the Trade-marks Act says that trademark confusion occurs where “both trade-marks in the same area would be likely to lead to the inference that the wares or services associated with those trade-marks are manufactured, sold, leased, hired or performed by the same.

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Trademarks are registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (“CIPO”). On CIPO’s website (http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/), it suggests that you before applying, prospective applicants take the following two steps: (1) consult CIPO’s Guide to Trademarks and (2) consult their guide to the trademarks application process. This fact sheet will summarize the details of the aforementioned two steps. Guide to Trademarks To register a trademark, one must first understand what a trademark is. As per CIPO’s website, “trademarks may be one or a combination of words, sounds or designs used to distinguish the goods or services of one person or organization from those.

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