Intellectual Property Weekly Abstracts Bulletin — Week Of August 7, 2017

Trademarks Decision

Appeal of registrar's expungement decision granted; GO PHONE Services not dependent on the network that hosts them

AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P v. Lecours, Hebert Avocats Inc, 2017 FC 734

The Federal Court granted an appeal from the Registrar's decision finding that AT&T's registration for its GO PHONE trademark was to be expunged pursuant to section 45 of the Trademarks Act. In the decision below, the Hearing Officer found that the availability of the GO PHONE Services ("Services") in Canada, if any, would have been only through the roaming services, and that it was unclear whether and to what extent each and every one of the Services was performed or available to be performed in Canada through the roaming services. The Hearing Officer also found that AT&T had not demonstrated use of the trademark in association with the Services, even if she accepted that each of the Services had been performed through roaming.