On October 30, 2018 the
Canadian government surprised intellectual property owners and the
IP legal community by including sweeping changes to Canada's
main intellectual property laws in the 800-pages Budget
Implementation Act. While unexpected, these changes are not
unwelcome. They show that Canada is serious about modernizing its
IP legislation.
This bulletin looks at key proposed
changes to trademark law in Canada that include 1) adding bad faith
as a ground for cancellation or opposition, 2) authorizing costs
and allowing for confidentiality orders in contentious
administrative proceedings, 3) creating mechanisms to clear the
"dead wood" of official marks from the register, 4) use
of a trademark as a prerequisite to receiving damages or other
relief in infringement lawsuits, and 5) restricting the filing of
new evidence on appeal.
