Canadians Play Nice…Classification That Is: Canadian IP Office Will Begin To Accept Applications Using International Classification System Starting In Fall Of 2015

Canada has been somewhat of a laggard when it comes to the accession and implementation of international trade-mark treaties, but this is changing. While discussion has carried on for years, a serious push began in 2014 to implement three key trade-mark treaties:

1. The Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (i.e. the Nice Classification, discussed below and the focus of this update),
2. The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (a treaty that helps to set certain common procedures for trade-mark registration and licensing, so as to harmonize these between jurisdictions), and
3. The Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (an agreement and protocol for an international system to facilitate registration in multiple jurisdictions. This does not create an 'international' trade-mark, but rather a system to deal with national