Trademark Troll Loses Registration After Appropriating Well-known Mark

The Federal Court of Canada, in a May 2022 decision,¹ has ordered a B.C. man's trademark registration be expunged for "bad faith" after finding it was filed solely for the purpose of re-sale. This is the first decision in Canada applying the new bad faith ground for trademark expungement, added to the Trademarks Act in 2019.

The trademark registration in question copied the logo of well-known restaurant chain in China with whom the applicant had no affiliation.

Brand owners will welcome the decision as confirming Canada's stance against would-be trademark squatters. The decision also highlights the benefit of monitoring advertised marks in Canada for opposition purposes, which provides a less expensive route to blocking bad faith applications before they get registered.