24 Du 24?

A recent decision of the Trade-marks Opposition Board dealt with the trade-mark "24 du 24" proposed to be used in association with alcoholic brewery beverages, signs, banners, posters and packaging for beverages, namely containers for bottles or cans of beer by Labatt Breweries of Canada ("Labatt"), which was opposed by Molson Canada 2005 ("Molson").

The Opposition

Labatt applied to register the trade-mark "24 du 24" in association with the above-noted wares based on proposed use. Molson opposed the application on the grounds, among others, that

1. the trade-mark was not registrable in that it was clearly descriptive in that the wares were packaged in containers having 24 by 24 bottles or cans. If the wares were not so packaged then the trade-mark was deceptively misdescriptive;