Two recent non-use cancellation decisions from the Trade-marks
Opposition Board provide useful guidance on the sufficiency of use
in Canada to owners of trademarks covering "restaurant
services", as well as bar, lounge or other food and beverage
services. Specifically, mere display of a mark on a menu, without
clearly associating it with the registered services, or display
that suggests a food/beverage menu item, as compared to the
services, may not be enough to maintain the registration.
In Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP v. Padcon Ltd, 2014
TMOB 125 [Padcon], the Board stated at para. 17:
the mere appearance of a trade-mark in
a restaurant, even on a menu, does not necessarily constitute
display of that trade-mark in association with the services
performed in that restaurant. A menu in a restaurant is akin to a
catalogue in a retail store. With respect to catalogues, a
distinction is made between trade-marks displayed in association
with particular goods appearing
