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ARTICLE · 16 MAY 2012

Lion’s Roar Caged! Certain Sounds Can Now Be Trade-marked

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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office ("CIPO") announced in a Practice Notice dated March 28, 2012, that, effective immediately, it would accept applications for the registration of sound trade-marks.

CanadaIntellectual Property
Catherine Dennis Brooks
Catherine Dennis Brooks
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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office ("CIPO") announced in a Practice Notice dated March 28, 2012, that, effective immediately, it would accept applications for the registration of sound trade-marks.

This announcement resulted from a consent order issued by the Federal Court on March 1, 2012, setting aside a decision of the Registrar of Trade-marks which refused a sound trade-mark application. The application was for the sound of a roaring lion and was filed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lion Corp. ("MGM") in 1992 based on use of the mark in Canada since 1928. The application was refused registration on the basis of section 30(h) of the Trade-marks Act which requires a trade-mark application to contain a drawing of the mark.

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