Change in Meaning of Term for Garment Found in 1950 Statement of Wares Cannot Serve to Expunge Trade-Mark in Use

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CHANGEINMEANINGOFTERMFORGARMENTFOUNDIN1950STATEMENTOF
WARESCANNOTSERVETOEXPUNGETRADE-MARKINUSE


BarryGamache*
LEGERROBICRICHARD
,LLP
Lawyers,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Victoria-Square–BlocE–8
thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
info@robic.com-www.robic.ca



LeviStrauss&Co.istheownerinCanadaoftrade-markregistrationUCA44368
forthemarkLEVI’SREDTABDesignsecuredonJuly4,1950for“clothing,
namely,men’s,women’sandchildren’soverallsandsimilargarments
especiallygarmentsandoverallsofthepatchpockettype”.Canada’s
FederalCourtrecentlyanalyzedthisregistration’sstatementofwaresinorder
todeterminewhatexactlyiscoveredbythe1950term“overalls”andto
provideguidelineswheninterpretingtermsinstatementofwaresorservices
whosemeaninghaschangedoverthedecades.(LeviStrauss&Co.v.Aird
andBerlisLLPandRegistrarofTrade-marks,2006FC654(F.C.,Hughes,J.,May
30,2006)).
OnDecember9,2002,attheinstigationoftheTorontolawfirmAird&Berlis
LLP,theRegistrarissuedanoticeagainsttheownerofregistrationUCA44368
undersection45ofCanada’sTrade-marksAct,R.S.C.1985,c.T-13.Section45
isthe“useitorloseit”provisionoftheActwhichallowstheRegistrarofTrade-
markstoexpungetheregistrationoftrade-markswhicharenotinuse.
Here,theRegistrarissuedanoticerequiringtheownerofregistration
UCA44368(inthiscase,LeviStrauss&Co.)toshowuseofitsregisteredtrade-
mark,failingwhichsuchmarkwouldbeexpunged.
Section45providesinpart:“45.(1)TheRegistrarmayatanytimeand,atthe
writtenrequestmadeafterthreeyearsfromthedateoftheregistrationofa
trade-markbyanypersonwhopaystheprescribedfeeshall,unlessthe
Registrarseesgoodreasontothecontrary,givenoticetotheregistered
ownerofthetrade-markrequiringtheregisteredownertofurnishwithinthree

©CIPS,2006.*BarryGamache,lawyer,isamemberofLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirm
oflawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.Publishedunderthetitle”ChangeinMeaning
ofTermOverallsCannotServetoExpungeLevisMark”inthe(August2006),20-8WIPR3-4.
Publication142.191.

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monthsanaffidavitorastatutorydeclarationshowing,withrespecttoeach
ofthewaresorservicesspecifiedintheregistration,whetherthetrade-mark
wasinuseinCanadaatanytimeduringthethreeyearperiodimmediately
precedingthedateofthenoticeand,ifnot,thedatewhenitwaslastsoin
useandthereasonfortheabsenceofsuchusesincethatdate.”(emphasis
added).
Inresponsetothesection45notice,LeviStrauss&Co.filedaffidavitevidence
beforetheRegistrarwhichpurportedtoestablishuseofitsregisteredtrade-
markinassociationwiththewareslistedinitsregistration.
TheevidencewasreviewedbytheRegistrarwhofoundthatthetrade-mark
wasinuseinassociationwithchildren’soveralls,thatisgarmentscomprising
trouserswithabibandshoulderstraps.Asforuseofthetrade-markin
associationwithmen’sandwomen’soveralls,theRegistranthadpresented
evidenceofuseofthetrade-markinassociationwithjeans.
However,accordingtotheRegistrar,proofofuseofthemarkinassociation
withjeanscouldnotsavethewaresdescribedasmen’sandwomen’s
overalls-whichwerethereforetobeexpungedfromthestatementofwares
-sinceuseofthetrade-markinassociationwithmen’sandwomen’sjeans
wasnotuseinassociationwiththegarmentsdescribedintheregistration,that
istrouserswithabibandshoulderstraps,formenandwomen.
LeviStrauss&Co.appealedtheRegistrar’sdecisionundersection56ofthe
Trade-marksActandfiledadditionalevidence,aspermittedundertheAct.
Thisadditionalevidencewastheexperttestimonyofanhistorianemployed
bytheRegistrantandwhosevariousdutiesincludedthegatheringof
historicaldatarelatingtoLeviStraussgarmentsoverthevariousdecades
duringwhichthesehavebeenavailabletoconsumersinNorthAmerica.
LeviStrauss&Co.’sexperttestimonyestablishedthatinthelate19thcentury,
theword“overalls”wasgenerallyunderstoodtorefertoclothingwornover
otherclothingandmoregenerallytoprotectiveworkclothing.Additionally,
asearlyasthe1920s,theterm“overalls”couldalsomeanthepieceof
garmentnowknownasjeans.Moreover,untilaboutthe1960s,theterms
“waistoveralls”and“jeans”wereconsideredsynonyms.
However,thecomingofageofthebabyboomergenerationinthe1960s
sawtherapidspreadoftheuseoftheterm“jeans”andtheequallyrapid
demiseoftheuseofitsolderequivalent“waistoveralls”.Withthisnew
evidence,theRegistrantwasineffectarguingthatwhatwerethenknownas
“overalls”(atleastforsomegarments)werenowknownasjeans.

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TheissuethenfortheCourtwas“whattodowhenthecommonlyaccepted
meaningofawordusedinthedefinitionofwaressetoutin[a]registrationof
atrade-markhaschangedfromthetimeofitsregistrationtothetimewhen
useofthetrade-markischallenged.”
Thisiswhathappenedhere:In1950,theterm“overalls”wasusedtodescribe
bothtrouserscommencingatthewaist,withoutabiborshoulderstraps,and
thoseincorporatingthesefeatures.Overtheyears,thetrouserswithoutabib
orshoulderstrapsbecameknownas“jeans”.IntheCourt’swords,toreferto
suchtrouserstodayas“overalls”is,atbest,archaic.
Inordertodeterminewhetheruseoftheregisteredtrade-markhadbeen
madeoutinthiscase,theCourtwrotethatoneisnottobeastutely
meticulouswhendealingwithlanguageusedinastatementofwares.
Moreover,summaryexpungementproceedingsundersection45arenotthe
forumtoentertain“thekindofmeticulousverbalanalysisinwhichlawyersare
toooftentemptedbytheirtrainingtoindulge”(WhirlpoolCorp.v.Camco
Inc.,[2000]2S.C.R.1067inquotingfromtheHouseofLordsinCatnic
ComponentsLtd.v.Hill&SmithLtd.,[1982]R.P.C.183).Inlightofthefactthat
theRegistranthadestablishedevidenceofuseofitstrade-markinassociation
withjeanswhichwouldhavebeendefinedmorethanfiftyyearsearlieras
“overalls”,theCourtallowedLeviStrauss&Co.’sappealandorderedthat
“overalls”formenandwomenbemaintainedinitsregistration.
TheCourt’sdecisionconfirmsthecommonsenseapproachthatisrequired
whenanalyzingastatementofwares.Ofcourse,ifapartyistoarguethatthe
meaningofawordhaschangedovertheyearsbutthattheunderlyinguse
ofatrade-markinassociationwithaspecificwarehasinfactremainedthe
same,aRegistrantshouldsubmitrelevantevidencewhichwillassistthe
RegistrarortheCourtinthedeterminationofsuchissue.

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