A Debate over the Descriptive Character of the Trade-Mark Sabbetaxolol

2005-01-01

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ADEBATEOVERTHEDESCRIPTIVECHARACTEROFTHETRADE-MARKSAB-
BETAXOLOL

By
CatherineBergeron*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8
thFloor
Montréal,Québec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)987-6242-Fax(514)845-7874
info@robic.com–www.robic.ca

TheTrade-marksOppositionBoard(the“T.M.O.B.”)recentlyhadtodecide
whetherthetrade-markSAB-BETAXOLOL,forpharmaceuticalproducts,
namelyophthalmicdropsforthetreatmentofglaucoma,isclearly
descriptiveofthenatureorqualityofthesewares,thusunregistrablepursuant
toparagraph12(1)(b)oftheTrade-marksAct(Synthélabov.SabexInc.,
renderedbyJenniferMcKay,memberoftheT.M.O.B.onAugust5,2004;
releasedJanuary17,2005)
Tosustainthismaingroundofopposition,theopponentfiledevidencetothe
effectthatBETAXOLOLisanInternationalCommonDenominationforan
activeingredientforanti-hypertensionproductswhichcanbeusedby
anyoneandcannotbeappropriatedbyanyoneperson.Saidevidencealso
putforwardthatshouldonepersonbeentitledtoobtainamonopolyonthe
termBETAXOLOL,suchasthetrade-markSAB-BETAXOLOL,thescientific
communityingeneralandmedicallaboratoriesandpharmacieswouldbe
prohibitedfromusingthegenericwordBETAXOLOLinCanadatorefertosaid
activeingredient.
Indecidingthatthetrade-markSAB-BETAXOLOLisnotclearlydescriptive,the
T.M.O.B.referredtothefollowingwellestablishedprinciple:
Asnotedabove,itisclearfromtheevidencefiledthatbetaxololisa
descriptiveorgenerictermreferringtoapharmaceuticalproductfor
thetreatmentofhypertension.Theapplicant’smark,however,isnot
simplyBETAXOLOLbutratherSAB-BETAXOLOL.Asnotedabove,itiswell
establishedthatamarkcanberegisteredwithaclearlydescriptive
componentorcomponentsaslongasthereissufficientregistrable

©LEGERROBICRICHARD,2005.*LawyerwiththelawfirmLEGERROBICRICHARD,g.p.andofthepatentandtrademark
agencyfirmROBIC,g.p.Publication293.021.

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matterapartfromtheclearlydescriptivecomponentcomponentsto
renderthemarkinitsentiretyregistrable.(p.7)
Inthepresentcase,adisclaimeroftherighttotheexclusiveuseoftheword
betaxololwasnotrequired,evenifitwouldnormallybeconsidered
unregistrable,sinceitisacomponentofhyphenatedwords.Noevidence
hasbeenfiledwhichwouldtendtoshowthattheSABcomponent,which
appearstohavebeencoinedfromanabbreviationoftheapplicant’s
name,isdevoidofdistinctivecharacter.
Thus,theT.M.O.B.concludedthat,asawhole,thetrade-markSAB-
BETAXOLOLisnotclearlydescriptiveanddoesnotdeprivethirdpartiesofthe
righttousethewordbetaxololtolegitimatelydescribepharmaceutical
productscontainingthatactiveingredient.
Theopponentalsosubmittedthatiftheapplicant’sproductdoesnot
containbetaxolol,thenthetrade-markSAB-BETAXOLOLisdeceptively
misdescriptive.Giventhattheapplicantamendeditsstatementofwares
duringtheproceedingtoread“pharmaceuticalproducts,namely
ophthalmicdropsforthetreatmentofglaucomaandhavingbetaxololasan
ingredient”,theT.M.O.B.didnothavetoaddresssaidissue.Itnonetheless
concludedthat,eveniftheapplicationhadnotbeenamendedtospecify
thatthewarescontainbetaxolol,itwouldnothaveconsideredthetrade-
markSAB-BETAXOLOLtobedeceptivelymisdescriptiveoftheappliedfor
wares;apresumptionoffairuseofatrade-markshouldapplytoasituation
suchasthis,particularlysowheretheopponenthasfailedtoadduce
evidencewhichwouldpointtotheapplicant’suseorintentiontouseits
trade-markinadeceptivemanner.(A.Lassonde&FilsInc.v.GeneralFoods,
Inc.(1985),6C.P.R.(3d)72,T.M.O.B.)
Asforthethreeothergroundsofoppositionrelieduponbytheopponent,
theywereallrejectedbytheT.M.O.B.forthefollowingreasons:1)the
opponentfailedtofileanyevidencewhichwouldleadtotheconclusion
thattheapplicantcouldnothavebeensatisfiedofitsentitlementtouseof
themarkSAB-BETAXOLOL;2)thetrade-markSAB-BETAXOLOLcannotbesaid
tobethenameofthewaresinanylanguage;and3)giventhatthemain
groundofoppositionhasbeenrejected(i.e.descriptiveness),thegroundof
oppositionbasedontheopponent’sallegationthattheapplicant’strade-
markisnotdistinctiveisalsorejected.

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