With the long awaited changes to the Canadian Trademarks
Act and Regulations just around the corner, brand
owners should be excited about Canada’s alignment with
international trademark standards and the new opportunities these
changes will bring.
Among the changes coming into force in Canada on June 17, 2019
is the addition of provisions that will, among other things,
require all trademark applications and registrations to comply with
the Nice Classification system. The Nice Classification
system categorizes goods and services into 45 general classes that
are (more or less) harmonized across member countries to facilitate
global trademark searching and comparison.
However, brand owners should be aware that Canada has adopted a
unique policy concerning the required filing fees which differs
significantly from the general practice of other member
countries.
