Extension of Time for the Filing of the Declaration of Use Required by Section 40(3) of the Canadian Trade-marks Act – Part I



EXTENSIONOFTIMEFORTHEFILINGOFTHEDECLARATIONOFUSEREQUIREDBY
SECTION40(3)OFTHECANADIANTRADE-MARKSACT–PARTI

LaurentCarrière*

LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
www.robic.ca–info@robic.com

DECLARATIONOFUSE.Whenanapplicationforregistrationofaproposedtrade-
markisallowedtoregistration,theissuanceoftheregistrationissubjecttothe
priorfilingofadeclarationstatingthat,sincethefilingoftheapplicationfor
registration,theapplicanthascommencedusingthetrade-markinCanada.
Whenmustthisdeclarationbefiled?Generally,itisfiledoncethenoticeof
allowancehasissued.
Thedeclarationofusemustthereforebemadeeitherwithinsix(6)monthsofits
allowance,orwithinthree(3)yearsoftheapplicationforregistrationdepending
onwhichevertermprovesmoreadvantageousfortheapplicant.
IfanapplicationforregistrationismadeonJanuary1,1998andisallowedfor
registrationonJanuary1,1999,theapplicantwillthereforehaveuntilJanuary1,
2001tofilethedeclarationofuse(thatis,threeyearsfromthetimethe
applicationforregistrationwasmade).Ontheotherhand,ifanapplicationfor
registrationismadeonJanuary1,1998butisonlyallowedonJanuary1,2002
(thatis,overthreeyearsaftertheinitialapplicationforregistrationwasmade),
theapplicantwillhaveuntilJuly1,2002(thatis,sixmonthsaftertheallowance)
tofileit.
FAILURETOFILETHEDECLARATION.Iftheapplicantfailstofilethedeclarationof
usewithintheprescribedtimeperiod,theapplicationshallbedeemedtohave
beenabandonedwithoutanyfurthernoticefromtheRegistrar.
EXTENSION.Anapplicantwhoisunabletofilethedeclarationofuseprovided
forbysubsection40(2)oftheTrade-marksActwithinthedelayprescribedby
subsection40(3)mayneverthelessrequestanextensionoftime,inaccordance



















































©CIPS,1998.
*OfLEGERROBICRICHARD
,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrademark
agents.PublishedintheFall1998(Vol.2,No.4)issueofourNewsletter.Publication068.017E.



withsubsection47(1)oftheAct,bypayingtherequiredfees.
WITHINTHEFIRSTTHREEYEARS.TheRegistrarmustbeconvincedthatthe
circumstancesjustifysuchanextension.Asimple«Wewereinformedbythe
departmentsconcernedthattheapplicantisunabletoproducethe
declarationofusecontemplatedbysubsection40(2)oftheActbecausethe
trade-markisnotasofyetfullyusedinCanadainassociationwithallthewares
andservicesmentionedintheapplication»willsimplynotsuffice.TheTrade-
marksOfficehasreviseditspoliciesandasofApril14,1998anapplicantmust
givearealreasontoobtainanextensionandnotmerelyastatementthatthe
trade-markisnotyetinuseandthatmoretimeisneededtomarketit.This
reasonneednotbe,atleastduringthefirstthreeyearsaftertheapplicationfor
registrationisallowed,a«significantandsubstantive»one;nonetheless,some
sortofreasonmustbeprovided.
Asofyet,theTrade-marksOfficehasnotestablishedanyfixedpoliciesregarding
thenatureofthereasonsrequired.However,allgoodreasons,eventhosethat
aresimpleorgeneral,arelikelytobeacceptedwithoutthequestioningofany
factsortherequestingofsupportingdocuments.Whatreasonswouldjustifythe
grantingofanextension?TheAct,theRegulations,andalldirectivesaresilent.
Nonetheless,itisinterestingtoobservethatintheUnitedStates,theUSPTO
recognizes,amongstothers,thefollowingasbeingjustifiablereasonsforan
applicantinananalogoussituationtoobtainanextension:productorservice
researchordevelopment,marketresearch,manufacturingactivities,
promotionalactivities,stepstoacquiredistributors,stepstoobtainrequired
governmentalapproval,orothersimilaractivities.Inthealternative,a
satisfactoryexplanationforthefailuretomakesucheffortsmustbesubmitted.



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