Trademark Assignments: "Inexcusable Activity" Will Cost You

The regulations affecting trademarks weren't fully in effect until 2025. More than a year later, the number of complaints against businesses has never been higher.

In Ontario, business owners typically consider franchising versus licensing as they plan to grow their company. Both methods promote growth through the resources of a third party, but they work in dramatically different ways.

Are you ready for changes to the Charter of the French Language ("Charter") that will come into force on June 1, 2025? Bill 96 was enacted on June 1, 2022, with its various provisions taking effect...

CanLII, Canada's free legal database, and Caseway, an AI legal research platform, have reportedly reached a settlement in their copyright dispute over the use of legal case data for artificial intelligence training purposes. The resolution addresses concerns about unauthorized use of publicly available legal materials and the boundaries of AI development in the legal technology sector.

Trademark owners facing expungement for failing to file evidence of use in section 45 proceedings may have recourse through the Federal Court appeal process. The recent Lion Corporation case demonstrates how administrative errors by trademark agents can be remedied, allowing registrants to file additional evidence and potentially reinstate their registrations when the failure was beyond their control.

Canada's Intellectual Property Office has introduced a new expedited examination program for patent applications in critical technology sectors. The Key Technology Expedited Program waives the advanced examination fee and promises first office action within seven months for qualifying applications related to critical minerals supply chain innovations.

Canada's intellectual property landscape has undergone significant transformation with the April 2025 trademark amendments, March 2026 CIPO patent guidance on software and AI, and evolving trade secret protections.

Foreign companies launching products in Canada often overlook industrial design registration, one of the most cost-effective forms of IP protection available. Copyright protection for product appearance is significantly restricted once a design is reproduced in quantities exceeding 50 copies, making industrial design registration the primary statutory protection for commercially manufactured products.

For Canadian innovators, the patenting process can seem unreasonably slow. In an effort to address this, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) created various procedures to expedite the examination process in Canada. Knowing which fast track options exist, when they make sense, and how to use them effectively can provide a significant commercial advantage.

The rapid expansion of data centre infrastructure has made these facilities a focal point for technological innovation and intellectual property investment. From server configurations to advanced cooling systems, the technologies deployed inside data centres represent significant R&D expenditure and competitive advantages. Patent protection offers operators and developers opportunities to safeguard innovations...

Health Canada issued revised guidance on notifying Health Canada of foreign actions, effective October 1, 2026. The revised guidance clarifies the requirements to notify Health Canada of certain foreign regulatory actions specified in subsection C.01.050(2) of the Food and Drug Regulations in the specified foreign jurisdictions, which involve a serious risk of injury to human health and are relevant to the safety of the drug.

Health Canada has secured a permanent injunction against Canlab Research, a Quebec-based online retailer, preventing the company from manufacturing, distributing, or selling unauthorized injectable peptides in Canada. This enforcement action follows years of regulatory warnings and provisional court orders aimed at stopping the illegal sale of peptide drugs promoted with unproven health claims for anti-aging, weight loss, and athletic performance.

Brand and influencer collaborations are a key component in marketing products and services, as highlighted in our article on Like & Follow! What to know when #advertising with #influencers.

Health Canada is not currently meeting its performance standards for the review of some generic drug submissions. On September 1, 2026, Health Canada launched a new webpage, Improving how we review generic drugs, and released three notices on proposed actions to address the backlog of generic drug submissions under review.

Health Canada has announced significant regulatory changes for medical device establishment licensing, set to take effect in December 2026. These Phase II amendments aim to streamline requirements...

COLD-FX is a top-selling natural health product in Canada, with sales topping nearly $120-million as recently as 2011, according to a November 15, 2015 Globe and Mail article, "Why COLD-FX is too good to be true".

On July 16, 2025, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced new practices related to trademark examination and the acceptance of recommendations for pre-approved goods and services.

On July 17, 2024, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) launched a new electronic system and portal, MyCIPO Patents, as part of its Next Generation Patents initiative.

As we previously reported, Health Canada consulted on the framework for clinical trials, including on the new Clinical Trials Regulations and draft and updated guidance documents. Health Canada has now published a What we heard overview of the results of the consultation.

For a Canadian patent application to be examined, an applicant must file a request for examination with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). In most cases, the order in which applications are examined is based on the order that the requests for examination are received. An applicant may be able to accelerate examination of their patent application through several existing mechanisms, including advancing examination via special order, accelerating examination of applications related to green technology, and the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).