Official Marks and Public Authorities: The Noose Tightens

2003-01-01

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OFFICIALMARKSANDPUBLICAUTHORITIES:THENOOSETIGHTENS

STELLASYRIANOS*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

TheuniqueprotectionaffordedtoofficialmarksinCanadahaslongremaineda
mysterytopractitionersandsometimeseventocourts.

Overthelastcoupleofyears,however,severalcaseshaveshedsomelightthe
issueandhavewidenedtheunderstandingofthescopeandattributesofofficial
marks.OfnotearetworecentdecisionsrenderedbytheFederalCourtonthesame
dayin2002.
Sub-paragraph9(1)(n)(iii)oftheTrade-marksActprovidesthat“nopersonshall
adoptinconnectionwithabusiness,asatrade-markorotherwise,anymark
consistingoforsonearlyresemblingastobelikelytobemistakenfor…anybadge,
crest,emblemormark…adoptedandusedbyanypublicauthority,inCanadaasan
officialmarkforwaresorservices,inrespectofwhichtheRegistrarhas,atthe
requestof…[a]publicauthority,…givenpublicnoticeofitsadoptionanduse.”

Apartyseekingentitlementtoanofficialmarkmustprovethatitqualifiesasapublic
authority.AstheActdoesnotprovideadefinitionforwhatconstitutesapublic
authority,itistheCourtswhohavedefinedapublicauthorityovertimeasanentity
whichissubjecttogovernmentcontrolandwhichfunctionsforthebenefitofthe
publicratherthanforprivatebenefit.ThiscriterionwasalsoappliedbytheTrade-
marksOfficePracticeNoticeissuedonMarch10,1999relatinginpart,toofficial
marks.
Themostrecentdecisionsrelatingtoofficialmarkshaveputthedefinitionofapublic
authorityunderfurtherjudicialscrutiny.Inbothcases,theCourtruledthatthe
entitiesinquestionwerenotpublicauthoritiesandthereforetheirofficialmarkswere
ineffectiveandcouldnotgiverisetoanyrightsorprohibitionsassociatedtherewith.

InCanadianJewishCongressv.ChosenPeopleMinistries,Inc.,[2002]19C.P.R.
(4th)186(F.C.T.D.),theCourt,bywayofajudicialreviewapplication,setasidethe

©CIPS,2003.
*Lawyerandtrade-markagentwithROBIC,LLPamultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentand
trade-markagents.PublishedintheJune2003NewsletteroftheNationalIntellectualPropertyLaw
SectionoftheCanadianBarAssociation,alsoavailableathttp://www.cba.org/cba/newsletters/ip-
2003/ip5.aspx.Publication171.007E

Registrar’sdecisiontopublishtheChosenPeopleM
inistries’markidentifiedasa
“MenorahDesign,”arepresentationofastylizedmenorah.

TheCourtreinforcedanearlierprinciplebyholdingthatalthoughChosenPeople
Ministrieswasincorporatedasanon-profitcorporationwithcharitableobjectsand
tax-exemptstatus,thiswasnotwasnotsufficientinitselftograntitpublicauthority
status.Also,thefactthatallcharitableorganizationsmustcomplywithgovernment
regulationswasnotseenbytheCourtassubjectingtheseorganizationsto
“significant”governmentcontrol.
Onapracticallevel,theCourtnotedthatitwouldbecounterproductivetoprohibit
Jewishorganizationsandassociationsfromusingandadoptingamarksuchasthe
Menorah,sinceithasalwaysbeenhistoricallyassociatedwiththeJewishculture.

Inanotherdecision,OntarioAssociationofArchitectsv.AssociationofArchitectural
TechnologistsofOntario,[2002]19C.P.R.(4th)417(F.C.A.),theFederalCourtof
AppealreversedtheTrialDivision’sfindingthattheAssociationofArchitectural
Technologistswasapublicauthority.
Inrefiningthecriteriafordeterminingpublicauthoritystatus,theFederalCourtof
Appealheldthatthegovernmentcontroltestisnotsatisfiedwhenanentityclaimsit
isacreatureofstatuteanditsenablinglegislationcouldbeamendedorrepealedby
thegovernment.TheCourtdecidedthatsignificantgovernmentcontrolmustbe
exercisedsuchasanongoinginfluenceinanentity’sgovernanceanddecision-
makingstructure.
Onapracticallevel,notingthebroadprotectionassociatedwithofficialmarks,the
Courtdidnotappearpreparedtoopenthefloodgatesbyallowingentitiestoqualify
asapublicauthoritysimplybecausetheyarecreaturesofstatute.

Inrenderingtheirdecisions,theCourtsseemtohavenarrowlyconstruedthecriteria
fordeterminingwhatentitymayqualifyasapublicauthority.Foritspart,theTrade-
marksOfficeissuedaPracticeNoticeonOct.2,2002entitled“PublicAuthority
StatusUnderSub-paragraph9(1)(n)(iii),”whichhasreplacedthepreviousnotice
publishedintheTrade-marksJournalonMarch10,1999.Thisnewnotice,which
onlyaddressestheissueofpublicauthoritystatus,islikelytheresultofthesetwo
FederalCourtdecisions.Itisintendedtoprovidemoreguidanceonthecurrent
Trade-marksOfficepracticeandinterpretationofrelevantlegislationrelatedto
officialmarks.
Themaindifferencewiththepreviousnoticeisthecriteriarelatedtogovernment
control.Thiselementhasbeenrefinedtonowindicateasignificantdegreeofcontrol,
thatistosay,anongoinggovernmentsupervisionoftheactivitiesofthebody
claimingtobeapublicauthorityforthepurposeofsub-paragraph9(1)(n)(iii).

Historically,theRegistrarwasusuallypreparedto
acceptanentity’sclaimthatitwas
apublicauthority.However,inlightoftherecentdevelopmentsdiscussedabove,
theTrade-marksOfficewillnowbeexamininganentity’scontentionthatitisapublic
authorityinadifferentlight.Itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatwhenfacedwith
entitiesseekingofficialmarkentitlement,theRegistrarwilllikelyaugmentits
requestsforthemtosubstantiatetheircontentionthattheyqualifyasapublic
authoritythroughpertinentdocumentationandarguments.

WiththerecentinsightprovidedbytheFederalCourtandsubsequentlyfollowedby
theTrade-marksOffice,practitionersnowfindthemselvesinamoreenviable
positionofunderstandingwhocanandcannotclaimpublicauthoritystatus.

Thecloudswhichonceshroudedthedefinitionofapublicauthoritymaybegiving
waytoarayoflightthatwillclarifytheapplicationofthecriteria.Bythesametoken,
whiletheprotectionaffordedtoofficialmarksisbroadinscope,itappearsthatthe
rangeofentitiesthatmayenjoytheirsubstantialbenefitshasbeenconsiderably
narrowed.

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