Section 45 Proceeding: the Need for Precision in Describing Wares and Services



SECTION45PROCEEDING:THENEEDFORPRECISIONINDESCRIBINGWARES
ANDSERVICES

by
DarioPietrantonio
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria-BlocE–8
thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)9876242-Fax:(514)8457874
www.robic.ca-info@robic.com

Section45oftheTrade-marksAct(R.S.C.1985,c.T-13)allows”anyperson”,
referredtoastherequestingpart,toforwardawrittenrequesttotheRegistrar
ofTrade-marksrequiringthattheownerofatrade-markshowtheuseofsaid
markwithregardtoeachorcertainofthewaresandservicesforwhichitwas
registered.TheproceedingsunderSection45onlyapplytomarkswhich
havebeenregisteredforatleastthreeyears.
InordertoovercomeaSection45proceeding,theownerofthemarkis
obliged,pursuanttoarequestbytheRegistrar,toshowuseofthemark
duringthetwoprecedingyearsorprovidethe”specialcircumstancesthat
excusetheabsenceofuse”.
ASection45proceedingwasinstitutedagainstSharpKabushikiKaisha,doing
businessasSharpCorporation,regardingitstrade-markSHARPwhichhad
beenregisteredforawidearrayofelectronicwares.Theproceedingsinthis
matterspecificallytargeted”clocks”and”watches”.
SharpCorporationfiledaffidavitevidencestatingthatintheregularcourseof
itsbusinessithadsoldnumerouselectronicproductsunderthetrade-mark
SHARPwhichdisplayedtimeeitherasaprimaryorsecondaryfunction.The
waresreferredtowerethefollowing:clockradios,walletsizetelephone
directorywithschedulealarmandanniversaryalarmsystems,travelclock
calculators,talkingclock/calculatorcombinations,talkingclocks,telephone
directoryscheduleandclockwithQWERTYstylekeyboard,horizontalwallet
sizetelephonedirectorieswithschedulealarm,anniversaryalarmsystems,
electronicorganizers,scientificmemomasters,electroniccashregisters,
personalpalm-topcomputers,facsimilemachines,portableCDstereo
systems,videocassetterecorders,camcordersandmicrowaveovens.Sharp
Corporationclaimedthatthesaleoftheabove-mentionedwaresconstituted
useofthetrade-markfor”watches”and”clocks”duetotheirtime-keeping
functions.



Furthermore,SharpCorporationarguedthatsincethesixthiteminitslistof
wareswasset-outas”(6)Watchesandclocks”,itwouldsufficetoshowuse
witheither”watches”or”clocks”inordertosatisfytheuserequirementfor
both.
SharpCorporationalsomaintainedthatitssaleof”talkingclocks”established
useforbothwatchesandclocksduetothefactthatatalkingclockwas
essentiallyaclockwithanaddedfunction.
Therequestingpartyarguedthatuseofthemarkasitpertainedtoelectronic
productswhichmeasureandindicatetimebutareneither”watches”or
“clocks”isnotrelevantbecauseconsumersunderstand”watches”and
“clocks”tobeindependentproductswhichdonotformpartofalargerwhole
suchasamicrowaveovenorcalculator.
TheRegistrarclassifiedthevariouselectronicproductslistedinSharp
Corporation’saffidavitaswareswhichincludedaclockfunction,and
thereforetheuseofthemarkinconjunctionwithsaidwaresdidnotqualifyas
usewitheither”watches”or”clocks”.
Astoclaimthatitwouldsufficetoshowuseforeitherwatchesorclocks,the
Registrar,inagreeingwiththerequestingparty,concludedthatalthough
watchesandclocksbothfallundertheheadingoftimepiecesorhorological
instruments,dictionarydefinitionsforthetwotermsindicatethattheyeach
areseparateitemsandtherefore,basedontheFederalCourtofAppeal’s
decisioninJohnLabattLtd.v.RainierBrewingCo.,(1984),80C.P.R.(2d)288.,
useforeachitemmustbeshowninorderfortheregistrationtobe
maintained.
Byapplyingthistypeofitembyitemapproach,theRegistrarfoundno
evidenceofusewithregardtowatchesanddidnotconsiderthesaleof
talkingclocksasrelevanttotheissueofclocks.TheRegistraracceptedthe
requestingparty’sargumentthatifclocksandtalkingclockswerenottreated
asmutuallyexclusiveproducts,oneofthesetwoitemswouldbesuperfluous.
Inkeepingwiththislineofreasoning,theRegistrardecidedthatthepresence
ofboth”clocks”and”talkingclocks”inthelistofwaresindicatesthatthe
intentionwastomakeadistinctionbetweenthesetwoproductsand
thereforetheuseofthemarkfor”talkingclocks”didnotbenefit”clocks”.
Thisveryliteralinterpretationofwaresandserviceslistswhichprevailsin
Canadiantrade-markdecisionsshouldprovideampleincentiveforthose
whopreparetheseliststoinvestthetimeandeffortrequiredtoinsurethat
theybeaccurateandcomplete.



Publishedat(1996),10W.I.P.R.96-97underthetitlePrecisionNeededin
DescribingWaresin§45Proceeding,RulingShows

LEGERROBICRICHARD,1996.



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