Sole director of restaurant business found personally liable for Trademark infringement after failing to comply with a delay in the judicial proceedings
SOLEDIRECTOROFARESTAURANTBUSINESSFOUNDPERSONALLY
LIABLEFORTRADEMARKINFRINGEMENTAFTERFAILINGTOCOMPLY
WITHADELAYINTHEJUDICIALPROCEEDINGS
MARCELNAUD**
LEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP
LAWYERS,PATENTANDTRADEMARKAGENTS
InajudgmentrenderedonSeptember4,2009byJusticeRusselW.Zinnin
2045978OntarioInc.(ChapstheOriginal)v.ChapsAldershotInc.(Lezley’sChaps),
2009FC872(CanLII),theFederalCourtofCanadafoundthatChapsAldershotInc.
anditspresident,secretary,treasurerandsoledirectorKevinSaunders(the
“Defendants”),haveinfringedtheCanadiantrade-markCHAPS,registeredbythe
PlaintiffonMarch30,2005inassociationwithrestaurantservices.
ThePlaintiffoperatesarestaurantunderthename“ChapsTheOriginal”inthetown
ofBurlington,Ontarioandtheevidenceshowsthatitiswell-knownandhasbeen
activesince1981.
In2006,thedefendantChapsAldershotInc.purchasedarestaurantbusinessfroma
thirdparty,whichincludedthegoodwillandtradenameassociatedthereto.The
Defendantsthenstartedtocarryonthebusinessas“Lezley’sChaps”andthe
restaurantwasonthesamestreetas“ChapsTheOriginal”,withonly6kilometres
betweenthetwo.
ThePlaintifffiledamotionforsummaryjudgmenttoobtainapermanentinjunction
againsttheDefendantsrestrainingthemfrom(i)infringingthePlaintiff’sCHAPS
trade-mark;(ii)usingthetrade-markLezley’sCHAPSoranytrade-markortrade-
namethatcausesconfusionwiththePlaintiff’sCHAPStrade-markand(iii)directing
publicattentiontotheirservicesorbusinessinsuchawayastocauseorbelikelyto
causeconfusionwiththePlaintiff’sservicesorbusiness.
©CIPS,2009.*MarcelNaudisalwayerandtrade-markagentwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP,a
multidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrade-markagents.PublishedinanOctoberissueof
WorldTrademarkReport.Publication293.061
2
AccordingtoatimetableagreeduponbythepartiesandapprovedbytheCourt,the
PlaintiffhaduntilJuly27,2009toserveandfileitsMotionRecordandthe
DefendantsthenhaduntilAugust7,2009tofiletheirrespondingMotionRecord.
However,theDefendantsfailedtocomplywiththeirdelay:theyfiled,onAugust24,
2009,anaffidavitfromthedefendantKevinSaundersdatedAugust12,2009and
servedthenextday,withoutanaffidavittoexplain,underoath,whytheaffiantwas
unabletosweartheaffidavitpriortoAugust12,2009.
GiventhattheDefendantsdidnotrequestedpermissionfromtheCourttoallowthe
latefiling,erroneouslyassumingthatitwouldnotbeaproblem,theCourtrefused
thattheaffidavitbepartoftheevidenceonthemotion.However,eveniftheCourt
hadacceptedtheaffidavit,itwouldnothavebeensufficienttoshowthattherewasa
genuineissuerequiringatrial.
Inlightoftheevidencebeforeit,theCourt,allowingthemotionforsummary
judgment,concludedthattheDefendantswereliableoftrade-markinfringementand
passingoff,andthatthedefendantKevinSaunders“engagedinadeliberate,wilful
andknowingpursuitofacourseofconductthatheknewconstitutedinfringementof
thePlaintiff’strade-mark”.
ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommerce
vouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelle
danstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marques
decommerce,marquesdecertificationetappellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,
propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,
logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentions
végétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchiseset
transfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligente
etaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicated
since1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:
patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksand
indicationsoforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,
neighbouringrights;computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competitionandanti-
trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,distributionand
3
businesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDE
LAPLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD
Trade-marksofLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP(“ROBIC”)