We initially dealt with this case in our
May 2008 newsletter.
The Facts
Glenora Distillers International Ltd. applied for the trade mark
GLEN BRETON for a single malt whiskey. The Scotch Whiskey
Association opposed the application on the basis, among other
things, that the adoption of the mark was prohibited because the
word GLEN had by ordinary and bona fide commercial usage
become recognized in Canada as designating goods of a particular
brand and origin, namely whiskey from Scotland.
Section 10
Section 10 of the Trade-marks Act (the "Act")
provides that where a mark has by ordinary and bona fide commercial
usage become recognized in Canada as designating the kind, quality,
quantity, destination, value, place of origin or date of production
of any wares or services, no person shall adopt it as a trade mark
in association with such wares or services or others of the same
general class or use it in a way that is likely to mislead. In
addition, no one may
