Canadian Government’s Budget Implementation Bill Incorporates Sweeping Changes To The Trade-marks Act

In a bold move, on March 28, 2014, the Canadian government tabled its omnibus budget implementation act, Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No.1, which makes changes to close to 40 pieces of legislation, and incorporates significant changes to the Trade-marks Act. The proposed amendments to the Trade-marks Act, some of which may be considered long overdue, are intended to bring Canada into compliance with international trade-mark treaties, and specifically the Madrid Protocol, the Nice Agreement and the Singapore Treaty. The sweeping changes proposed in this new bill follow on the heels of additional major changes proposed by the Combatting Counterfeit Products Act (Bill C-8), currently awaiting its final vote with Parliament.