Registrar Decides Fate of Trade-Mark Registrations for Services Submitted as Goods in Quickstart Expungement Case

2016-05-04

BARRYGAMACHE*
ROBIC,LLP
LAWYERS,PATENT&TRADEMARKAGENTS

Inadecisionthatunderlinestheimportanceofproperlyidentifyingwhetheratrade-
markshouldberegisteredforgoodsorservices,Canada’sRegistrarofTrade-marks
hasorderedtheexpungementofapairofregistrations,oneforthetrade-mark
QUICKSTARTandtheotherforthetrade-markQUICKSTARTHOMES,forfailureby
itsownertoshowuseofeachtrade-markwithitscorrespondingregisteredgoods
(BuildingMaterialsInvestmentCorporationvStipsitsHoldingsCorp.,2016TMOB34
(CanLII,February26,2016)).

OnNovember28,2013,attherequestofBuildingMaterialsInvestmentCorporation
(the“RequestingParty”),Canada’sRegistrarofTrade-marks(the“Registrar”)sent
outnoticesundersection45ofCanada’sTrade-marksAct,RSC1985,c.T-13(the
“Act”)toStipsitsHoldingsCorp.(the“Owner”),theOwnerofrecordofregistrationNo.
TMA713,514forthetrade-markQUICKSTARTandregistrationNo.TMA713,515for
thetrade-markQUICKSTARTHOMES(the“Marks”).BothMarkswereregisteredby
theOwnerinassociationwithgoodsdescribedas“Constructionofstructurally
completehomeslackinginteriorfinishingwhichcanbecustomizedbythebuyer”.

Section45oftheActessentiallyprovidesthatfollowingarequestmadebyany
person,theRegistrarshallgivenoticetotheregisteredownerofatrade-mark
requiringittofurnishwithinthreemonthsanaffidavitshowing,withrespecttoeachof
thegoodsorservicesspecifiedintheregistration,whetherthetrade-markwasinuse
inCanadaatanytimeduringthethreeyearperiodimmediatelyprecedingthedateof
thenotice.Essentially,section45oftheActisCanada’s“useitorloseit”provision
concerningregisteredtrade-marksthathavebeenontheregisterformorethanthree
years.Whetheratrade-markisregisteredforgoodsorserviceswillhaveanimpact
onthetypeofevidenceofusethatwillberequired.

UndertheAct,requirementstoestablishuseofatrade-markforgoodsaremuch
morestringentthanforservices.Forgoods,undersection4(1)oftheAct,atrade-
markisdeemedtobeusedinassociationwithgoodsif,atthetimeofthetransferof
thepropertyinorpossessionofthegoods,inthenormalcourseoftrade,themarkin

©CIPS,2016.**OfROBIC,LLP,afirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.(2016),30:4WorldIntellectual
PropertyReport34-35.Publication142.308.

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questionismarkedonthegoodsthemselvesoronthepackagesinwhichtheyare
distributedoritisinanyothermannersoassociatedwiththegoodsthatnoticeofthe
associationisthengiventothepersontowhomthepropertyorpossessionis
transferred.Thismeansthatdemonstrationofuseofatrade-markregisteredfor
goodswillrequireproofofsalesoranyothertypeoftransactionsincesection4(1)of
theActrequiresproofofuseinthenormalcourseoftrade.

Ontheotherhand,forservices,section4(2)oftheactprovidesthatatrade-markis
deemedtobeusedinassociationwithservicesifitisusedordisplayedinthe
performanceoradvertisingofthoseservices.Thismeansthatadvertisingofatrade-
markforserviceswillqualifyasproofofuseofthetrade-markinquestionaslongas
theservicesareactuallyrenderedinCanada.

BoththeQUICKSTARTandQUICKSTARHOMEStrade-markswereregisteredfor
the“Constructionofstructurallycompletehomeslackinginteriorfinishingwhichcan
becustomizedbythebuyer”.ThedescriptionoftheOwner’sbusinessappearedto
suggestthathewasofferingservices.However,bothtrade-markswereregisteredin
associationwithgoods.Infact,theentireregistrationhistoryforbothtrade-markfiles
referredtogoodsandbothtrade-markswereultimatelyadvertisedandregisteredin
associationwithgoods(paragraph11oftheRegistrar’sreasons).

Asthesection45noticeswereissuedonNovember28,2013,theOwnerhadto
demonstrateuseofeachtrade-markinCanadaatanytimebetweenNovember28,
2010andNovember28,2013.Inresponsetothesection45notices,theOwnerfiled
ineachcasetheaffidavitoftheGeneralManagerofBranthavenHomes,alicenseeof
theOwner.

BeforeexaminingtheevidenceofusethatwassubmittedbytheOwnerconcerning
theQUICKSTARTandQUICKSTARTHOMEStrade-marks,theRegistrarhadto
decide,asapreliminarymatter,whethereachtrade-markregistrationshouldbe
treatedasaregistrationforgoodsorservices.

First,theRegistrarremindedthepartiesthatthevalidityofanyregistrationcannotbe
challengedinsection45proceedings(Ridout&MaybeeLLPvOmegaSA,2005FCA
306(CanLII)).Furthermore,section45proceedingsdonotoffertheappropriateforum
todeterminedifferentparties’competingrightsinatrade-mark(UnitedGrainGrowers
vLangMichener,2001FCA66(CanLII)).

Whilesection45proceedingsaredesignedtoverifytheactualuseofaregistered
trade-mark,couldtheRegistrarchangethedesignationofgoodstoservicesduring
suchproceedings,assubmittedbytheOwnerinitswrittenrepresentations(arequest
thatwashoweverwithdrawnattheoralhearing)?

Onthespecificissueofthechangeofdesignationofgoodstoservices,theRegistrar
agreedthatsuchachangeappearedtobebeyondthescopeofasection45
proceeding(paragraph12oftheRegistrar’sreasons).Indeed,anychangestoa

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statementofgoodsandservicescouldonlybedonethroughanamendmentthereto.
Infact,anyamendmentofsuchnaturehadtobeexaminedbytheTrade-marksOffice
andeventuallyadvertisedforoppositionpurposesinordertoprotectthirdpartieswho
mightwanttoobjecttothechangebyfilinganopposition.

TheRegistrarcouldonlyconcludethathewaslimitedtoacknowledgethatthe
statementfoundineachregistrationwasastatementofgoodsandexaminethe
evidenceaccordingly.

TheevidencefiledonbehalfoftheOwnerrevealedthatitmaintained,eitherdirectly
orthroughitslicensee,awebsiteatwww.branthaven.com.Accordingtotheevidence,
thewebsite“referenced”theQUICKSTARTmarksinceJune19,2012.Awebsite
printoutshowingthemarksQUICKSTARTHOMESandQUICKSTARTwasalsofiled.
Otherexhibitsincludedaportionofaflyer,a“multi-sitehandout”andan
advertisementallreferencingtheQUICKSTARTmark.Evidenceshowingthe
QUICKSTARTHOMESmarkwaslimitedtothewebsiteprintout.

TheRegistrarnotedthattherewasnoevidenceofsalesortransfersofanyofthe
registeredgoodsinCanadaduringtherelevantperiodinassociationwitheachtrade-
mark.Asbothtrade-markswereregisteredforgoods,someevidenceoftransfersin
thenormalcourseoftradeinCanadaduringtherelevantperiodwasrequired
(paragraph29oftheRegistrar’sreasons).

AstheOwnerdidnotprovideanyevidenceoftransfersof“structurallycomplete
homes”inassociationwitheachoftheregisteredtrade-marks,theRegistrar
concludedthattheOwnerdidnotprovideanyevidenceofuseofeachtrade-markin
associationwiththegoodsmentionedineachregistration.Accordingly,theRegistrar
orderedtheexpungementofeachregistration.

Thisdecisionappearstoofferacautionarytalefortrade-markownerswhoregister
theirmark.Theyshouldmakesurethattheiractivitiesareadequatelydescribedinthe
statementofgoodsorservicestheyfilewiththeTrade-marksOffice.Servicesshould
notbedescribedasgoodsifonlyforthesakeofaccuracy.Moreover,ifservicesare
improperlydescribedasgoods,theyriskbeingsubjectedtothemorestringentuse
requirementstheActimposesongoods.