Quebec superior court rules against political party in L’artisan passing off case

2009-01-01

Q
UEBECSUPERIORCOURTRULESAGAINSTPOLITICALPARTYIN
L’ARTISANPASSINGOFFCASE

BARRYGAMACHE*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENT&TRADEMARKAGENTS
Thoseengagedinthepoliticalprocessshouldnotadopttrade-marksortrade-names
thatcreateconfusioninordertogettheirmessageacrosstovotersontheeveofan
election.ThiswasthemessagedeliveredrecentlybytheSuperiorCourtofQuebec
inapassingoffcasethatdidnotinvolvecompetingcommercialinterests(Médias
TranscontinentalS.E.N.C.v.CarignanandPartidescontribuablesdeRepentigny,
2009QCCS2848(Q.S.C.,Payette,J.,June23,2009)).Thiscasecommentwill
identifythetrade-markissuesraisedbythisdecision.
MédiasTranscontinentalS.E.N.C.(hereafter:“Transcontinental”)publishesvarious
FrenchweeklynewspapersacrosstheProvinceofQuebec.Twooftheseweeklies
aredistributedfreeofchargetoreadersinthecityofRepentigny,asuburboutside
ofMontreal.OneiscalledL’ArtisanandisdistributedonWednesdayswhilea
second,namedL’HebdoRive-Nord,isdistributedonweekends.OnSeptember21,
2005,priortomunicipalelectionsthatweretobeheldonNovember6,2005in
Repentigny,thedirectorofinformationoftheL’Artisannewspaper,Mr.Sylvain
Poisson,advisedreadersinaneditorialthatitscoverageoftheupcomingcampaign
wouldbebalancedandobjective.
Asofmid-September2005,theincumbentadministrationofRepentignyMayor
ChantalDeschampsappearedtobecoastingunopposedtoaneasyre-election
victory.Ataboutthesametime,aresidentofRepentigny,Mr.MichelCarignan,
decidedtochallengeMayorDeschampsandfoundedthePartidescontribuablesde
Repentigny(orthe“RepentignyTaxPayers’Party”).AsMr.Carignanandhisparty
werelatecomersintheelectoralprocessandonlyreceived,intheirview,minimum
mediacoverage,theydecidedtoconveytheirmessagetovotersandpublished,on
November2,2005,acampaigndocumentwhichtooktheformofanewspaper
called“L’Partisan”similarinpresentationtotheL’Artisannewspaperbelongingto
Transcontinental.

©CIPS,2009.*Lawyerandtrade-markagent,BarryGamacheisapartnerwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP.,a
multidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,patentandtrademarkagents.OublishedintheAugist2009issueof
theWorldIntellectualPropertyReport.Publication64.226.

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TheL’PartisannewspaperpublishedbyCarignanandhispartycontainedpartisan
criticismoftheDeschampsadministration.Inall,20,000copiesofthepaperwere
handedouttovotersinRepentignyafewdayspriortotheelection.However,many
votersappearedtobelievethatMr.Carginan’sL’Partisannewspaperoriginatedfrom
thesamesourceastheL’ArtisannewspaperpublishedbyTranscontinental;these
voterswereoutragedbyitsapparentpartisanship,comingafteritspromisetostrike
abalancedtoneinitscoverageofthecampaign.
Transcontinentalwasquicklymadeawarethatsomeofthecharacteristicsofthe
L’Partisandocument-containingMr.Carignan’spoliticalrhetoric-wasapparently
similartothedistinctiveaspectsoftheL’Artisannewspaper.InTranscontinental’s
view,theL’PartisannewspaperhadasimilarlayouttoitsownL’Artisannewspaper
andalsousedaconfusinglysimilarname.OnSaturday,November5,2005,onthe
eveofthevote,TranscontinentalpublishedinitsL’HebdoRive-Nordnewspapera
frontpagenoticeinformingitsreadersthatithadnothingtodowiththeL’Partisan
paperpublishedafewdaysearlier.
OnDecember21,2005,TranscontinentaldecidedtosueMr.Carignanandhisparty
fordamagesbecauseoftheconfusioncreatedwithvotersafewdayspriortoa
highlycontestedelection.
InitssuitagainstMr.Carignanandhisparty,Transcontinentalallegedthatthe
defendantspassedofftheirL’PartisannewspaperasL’Artisannewspaperinorderto
benefitfromthelatter’sreputationamongvotersinRepentigny.Inordertosucceed
initsclaimforpassingoff,TranscontinentalhadtoestablishthatitsL’Artisan
newspaperhadgoodwillthatdeservedprotectionandthatthisgoodwillresultedfrom
theuseofadistinctivecharacteristic,inthiscasethenameL’Artisan.Italsohadto
establishthatthepublicwasconfusedtobelievethatL’Partisanactuallyoriginated
fromTranscontinentalandthat,becauseofthis,itlikelysuffereddamages.
InconsideringthePlaintiff’sclaim,theCourtreferredtotheSupremeCourtof
CanadadecisioninVeuveClicquotPonsardinv.BoutiquesCliquotLtée,[2006]1
S.C.R.824,atparagraph20,todescribetherelevanttestunderthecircumstances.
Thetesttobeappliedisoneoffirstimpressioninthemindofacasualconsumer
somewhatinahurrywhoseesthenameL’PartisanontheDefendant’snewspaper,
atatimewhenheorshehasnomorethananimperfectrecollectionoftheL’Artisan
newspaper,anddoesnotpausetogivethematteranydetailedconsiderationor
scrutiny,nortoexaminecloselythesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthenames.
Havingconsideredtheevidence,theCourtconcludedthatthePlaintiffestablished
itscaseforpassingoff.TheCourtconcludedthatTranscontinentalhadgoodwillin
thenameL’ArtisanresultingfromitsuseformorethanfortyyearsinRepentigny.By
2005,morethan50,000copiesweredistributedweekly.Asforconfusion,theCourt
concludedthattherewasahighdegreeofresemblancebetweenthelayoutofthe

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L’ArtisannewspaperandtheL’Partisannewspaper.Moreover,therewasevidence
that,infact,votershadbeenconfused.
Asfordamages–thatweredifficulttoestablishinthiscase-theCourtconcluded
thattheDefendantschosetorideonthecoattailsofanewspaperthatprideditselfin
itsobjectivepoliticalcoverageinordertolaunchitsownpartisanattackagainstthe
incumbentmunicipaladministration.TheCourtconcludedthatdamageswere
establishedbutconsideredthattheL’Partisannewspaperwasonlydistributedonce,
andnotforprofit;underthecircumstances,itgrantedTranscontinentalanindemnity
of$15,000.00.Exemplarydamagesintheamountof$7,500werealsoawardedin
ordertodiscouragesuchbehaviourforthefuture.
Mr.Carignan’sunsuccessfulattempttounseatMayorDeschampscarriesavaluable
lessonforallaspiringpoliticians:theuseofconfusinglysimilarmarksshouldnotbe
partofthemessageonthecampaigntrail.

4
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