Purchase Order Placed During Relevant Period and Process of Sampling as Market Testing Constitute Use, Federal Court Rules

2003-01-01

PURCHASEORDERPLACEDDURINGRELEVANTPERIODANDPROCESSOF
SAMPLINGASMARKETTESTINGCONSTITUTEUSE,FEDERALCOURTRULES

By
StellaSyrianos
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
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Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)9876242-Fax:(514)8457874
www.robic.ca-info@robic.com
TheFederalCourtofCanadarecentlyrenderedadecisionwhichheldthat
thedistributionofsamplesformarkettestingaswellasapurchaseorder
placedpriortotherelevantperiod,forwaresdeliveredaftersaidperiod,
constituteuseofatrade-mark(ConagraFoods,Inc.vs.Fetherstonhaugh&Co.
(2002)T-296-01,December4th,2002,MacKay,J.)
TheFacts
AttherequestofFetherstonhaugh&Co,theRegistrarofTrade-marksissueda
noticeunderSection45oftheTrade-marksActonFebruary11
th,1999,to
ConagraFoods,Inc.(hereinafter“Owner”),theregisteredownerofthe
trade-markKIDCUISINE(TMA407,779).
ThemarkKIDCUISINEwasregisteredin1993inassociationwith“frozen
preparedmealsconsistingofachicken,cheese,beeforfishentréewithside
dishesofvegetablesandfruitwithadditionalfruitorbakerygoodsasdesserts
soldasaunit,frozenpreparedmealsconsistingofapasta-basedentréewith
sidedishesofvegetablesandfruitwithadditionalfruitorbakerydishesas
dessertsoldasaunit”.
TheOwner’smarkhadbeenwidelyusedintheUnitedStateswherethesame
trade-markhasbeenregisteredsince1991.
TheRegistrar’sDecision
Inthecaseatbar,therelevantperiodofusewasbetweenFebruary11
th,1996
andFebruary11
th,1999.TheOwnerfiledevidenceindicatingthatitsdivision
ConAgraFrozenFoodsCompany,launchedpreparedfrozenmealsin
CanadainJanuary1999underthetrade-markKIDCUISINEbutthatfirst
deliveriesforsaleoftheseproductsoccurredinFebruary1999.Samplesof

invoicesprovidedbytheaffiantpost-datedthesection45notice.
OnDecember20
th,2000,theSeniorHearingOfficerassignedtothecaseheld
thattheOwnerhadnotestablishedusewithintherelevanttimeperiodnordid
theOwnerprovidethelastdateofuseoftheKIDCUISINEtrade-markandthe
reasonforitslackofuseinCanada.
TheRequestingPartyhadalsosuccessfullyarguedthattheOwner’sevidence
ofuseaftertherelevantperiodwasnotuseinassociationwiththewares
describedintheattackedregistrationsincethewaressolddidnotincludefruit.
TheOwnersoldproductsinCanadawhichincludedasidedishofcornrather
thanofapplesaucewhichwasincludedintheproductsoldintheUnited
States.
AppealtotheTrialDivisionoftheFederalCourtofCanada
Onappeal,theOwnerfiledsignificantadditionalevidenceoutlininginmore
detailthelaunchoftheproductinJanuary1999aswellasthepreparatory
stepsleadinguptothislaunch.Inlightofthisadditionalevidenceadduced
beforetheTrialDivision,theTrialjudgecametohisownconclusionastothe
correctnessoftheRegistrar’sdecision.
TheOwner’sevidencebeforetheCourtdetaileditsactivitiesbetween1997
andFebruary1999.ApurchasingofficerofOshawaFoodsconfirmedinher
affidavitthattheOwnerrespondedtoherinquiriesabouttheKIDCUISINE
product,samplesofwhichsheeventuallyacquiredandtestedinthemarketin
1998.TheOwner’srepresentativesalsoexploredthepotentialmarketing
developmentoftheKIDCUISINEproductinseveralCanadiancitiesincluding
Toronto,MontrealandVancouverin1998.Otherinitialstepstodevelopa
marketinCanadasuchasmeetingwithgrocerychainstoresrepresentatives
continuedfromthespringof1998.
TheresultsofthemarkettestsledtheOwnertoprepareitsproductsforsalein
Canadanotwiththesideservingofapplesaucebutratherwithcorn.
TheKIDCUISINEproductwasformallylaunchedinCanadainJanuary1999
whereitfeaturedanexpositionofitsproducttorepresentativesofmajor
grocerychainsinCanada.TheOwnerobtainedcommitmentstopurchaseits
products.Oneoftheseordersvaluedat$60,000wasplacedbeforeFebruary
11
th,1999andshippedtoCanadathesameday.Itwasdeliveredafewdays
laterasitonlyclearedCanadiancustomsonFebruary13th,1999.
IntheCourt’sview,theacceptanceoftheordertoshipKIDCUISINEproducts

toCanadapriortotherelevantdate,i.e.February11th,1999,constituteduse
oftheKIDCUISINEtrade-markinCanada.
TheCourtalsoheldthatthedistributionofsamplesfortestingintheCanadian
marketin1998alsoconstituteduseoftheKIDCUISINEtrade-marksincethis
distributionwasoneofthestepswithinthenormalcourseoftrade,inan
industrysuchastheOwner’s,whereatrade-markownerseekstodevelopa
market.TheCourtconcludedthatthepropertyinthesampleproductswas
transferredtoCanadianmerchantstestingtheproduct.TheCourtfurther
statedthatalthoughtheevidenceofusedidnotdemonstrateextensive
transfersofthewaresfromtheOwnertoothers,theActdoesnotrequiresuch
evidence.
ItisinterestingtonotetheCourt’smentionthattherapiddevelopmentofthe
marketinCanadafortheKIDCUISINEproductsinarelativelyshorttimeafter
February1999(whilenotmeetingtheusetestwithintherelevanttimeframe)
wasattributabletotheOwner’ssuccessinusingitsmarkthroughthesampling
ofitsproductsintheCanadianmarketpriortotherelevantperiod.
Astotheinterpretationof“sidedishesofvegetablesandfruit”,inlightofthe
evidenceandthepurposeofsection45proceedings,theCourtacceptedthe
Owner’sargumentthatareasonableinterpretationofthistermwouldinclude
“sidedishesofvegetablesandcorn,orsidedishesofvegetables,ifcornwere
notafruit.
TheCourtthereforesetasidetheRegistrar’sdecisionandorderedthatthe
trade-markKIDCUISINEremainontheregister.
Conclusion
Thisdecisionmaybehelpfulinsituationswhereatrade-markownerisinvolved
inanindustrywheretheprocessofsamplingasmarkettestingconstitutespart
ofitsnormalcourseoftrade.Aswiththepreparationofanyevidenceofuseof
atrade-mark,detailsastowhatformsthenormalcourseoftradeofa
trade-markownershouldbeprovided.Thisinformationmayprovecrucialin
determiningtheuseofatrade-mark.Itisalsoworthnotingthatwhileitdoes
notmeetthetestofusewithintherelevanttimeframe,evidenceofuse
beyondtherelevantperiod,may,dependingonthesurrounding
circumstances,positivelyinfluencetheRegistrarinitsfindingsofuse.

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world.Ideaslivehere.
LEGERROBICRICHARD,2003
Publishedat17-3WorldIntellectualPropertyReport4-5underthetitlePurchaseOrder,
SamplingasMarketTestingConstituted’Use’,CourtRules.Publication142.147.

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andutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindicationsoforigin;copyrightand
entertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;computer,softwareand
integratedcircuits;biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,
know-how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;
e-commerce,distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecution
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