Whether you are a Canadian company looking to sell your products or services abroad or a foreign company seeking to do business in Canada, identifying and protecting your intellectual property rights, such as trademark rights, that are associated with your products or services will mean the difference between profits and losses. This is where a trademark lawyer’s services may be of help.
By applying for a trademark registration, you are staking your claim in your target markets to safeguard your sales and reputation from competitors or other imitators. Once you have applied for a trademark registration in Canada, you can, within six months of filing, obtain the same Canadian filing date in several other countries. This has the advantage of granting you priority over someone who may have filed before you in that same foreign country.
Canadian Businesses & Madrid
If your business focuses on several countries or is planning to enter new markets, it is important to determine whether your interests are sufficiently protected in those countries and regions.
On June 17, 2019, Canada’s changes to the Trademarks Act have come into force and Canada has joined the ‘Singapore Treaty’, the ‘Madrid Protocol’ and the ‘Nice Agreement’.
The Madrid System is a centrally-administered system for obtaining trademark protection in a variety of jurisdictions through a single, consolidated process. It makes it possible to request trademark protection in one or more member states of the Madrid System by filing one application at WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland.
Canadian businesses and innovators now have access to a modernized trademark regime that is aligned with other jurisdictions, thus lowering filing cost and increasing the ease of doing business internationally while protecting your IP assets. The Madrid System covers 121 countries in total.
For advice on protecting your intellectual property assets nationally and internationally, please contact us.
