Superior Court of Quebec Refuses Injunction in Trade-Mark Case

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SUPERIORCOURTOFQUEBECREFUSESINJUNCTIONINTRADE-MARKCASE

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
TheSuperiorCourtofQuebecrefusedtograntaninjunctiontothePlaintiff
IllicoCommunication.TheCourtheldthattheservicesinassociationwiththe
Parties’trade-marksdifferedsignificantly,resultinginitsfindingthattherewas
noriskofconfusionbetweenthetrade-marksILLICO,ILLICO
COMMUNICATIONandthetrade-markILLICO(IllicoCommunicationInc.v.
VidéotronLtéeetal,No500-05-067846-012,August20
th,2004).
Thefacts
Plaintiff
IllicoCommunicationInc,(hereinafterthe“Plaintiff”)offerscomputerassisted
jurisprudencesearches.Plaintiffalsopublishesalegalbulletinandonthe
Internet,publishesarticlesforthegeneralpublicrelatingtocaselawsearches.
ThevastmajorityofthePlaintiff’sclienteleiscomprisedoflawyers.Plaintiffhas
beenoperatingawebsitesince1997allowingmainlyforthepromotionofits
services.
Plaintiffistheowneroftheregisteredtrade-markILLICOinassociationwith
computerassistedcaselawsearchservicesandthetrade-markILLICO
COMMUNICATIONinassociationwithgraphicsservicesrelatingtopublicityin
magazinesandbannersaswellasdrafting,translatedandeditingpublicitytexts.
Defendants
VidéotronLtée,(hereinafter“Videotron”),hasbeenofferingdigitaltelevision
servicesandinteractivetelevisionservicessinceSeptember2001,underthe



















































©LEGERROBICRICHARD,2004*Publishedat(December2004),18-12WorldIntellectualPropertyReport.Publication142.169.
Publishedat(November2004),4-11WorldE-Commerce&IPReport9underthetitle’Illico”
marksForWeb-Search,DigitalTVServicesNotConfusinglySimilar.

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nameILLICO.InJuly,2001,Videotronfiledtrade-markapplicationsforthetrade-
marksILLICO,ILLICO.CA,ILLICO.COMandILLICO.TV,inassociationwithseveral
services,amongstothers,accessandnavigationontheInternet,transactional
servicesaswellasinteractivetelevisionservices,suchasaccesstovideogames,
electronicmessaging.InOctober2001,Videotronalsofiledtrade-mark
applicationsforthemarks“i”LLICOdesignand“i”designwithsimilarservices.
OnSeptember11
th,2001,Plaintiffsentaceaseanddesistlettertothe
Defendantsorderingthemtoceaseuseofthetrade-markILLICO,thelatter
denyinganyriskofconfusionbetweenthemarksatissue.
OnNovember1
st,2001,PlaintifffiledaninjunctionbeforetheSuperiorCourtof
Quebecallegingtrade-markinfringement.OnJune14
th,2002,thePlaintiff
aquiredthedesignmark!LLICOandthesamedomainnameinrelationtothe
conceptionandadministrationofwebsites.
Issuesatbar
AmongtheissuesaddressedbytheCourtwerethefollowing:
(i)DidtheDefendantsviolatethePlaintiff’sexclusivetrade-marksrightsinits
markILLICO?
(ii)DoestheSuperiorCourtofQuebechavejurisdictiontodeclarethe
Plaintiff’strade-markILLICOCOMMUNICATIONineffectiveagainstthe
Defendantsbasedonlackofdistinctivecharacter?
(iii)IstheclaimofineffectivenessbytheDefendantsprescribedunderthe
Trade-marksAct?
SuperiorCourtofQuebecDecision
(i)infringement
Ontheissueofinfringement,theSuperiorCourtheldthattheDefendantsdidnot
violatePlaintiff’strade-markmarksinthemarkILLICO.Afterreviewingthecriteria
forconfusionundertheTrade-marksAct,theCourtopinedthattherewasnorisk
ofconfusionbetweenthemarksatissuebecausetheservicesofferedbythe
respectivepartieswere“dramaticallydifferent”.TheCourtaccorded
considerableweighttothiscriteria.Ontheonehand,Plaintiffofferedcaselaw
searchservicestoarestrictedportionofthepublic,mostlylawyers,who
accountedfor80%ofitsbusiness,whileontheother,Videotronoffereddigital
televisionservicestothegeneralpublic.
TheCourtalsostatedthatthenatureoftheParties’tradesdiffered.Plaintiff
offereditssearchserviceson-line,bytelephoneorbyfacsimilewhileVideotron

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offeredservicesonlyviaasubscriptionwhichalsorequiredthepurchaseofa
decoderatspecificcommercialestablishments.
(ii)jurisdictionoftheSuperiorCourt
Onthisissue,citingcaselawanddoctrine,theCourtheldthatithadthe
requisitejurisdictiontodeclareatrade-markineffectiveagainsttheDefendants.
TheCourtstatedthattheDefendantsdidnotasktheCourtexpungethe
Plaintiff’smarkILLICOCOMMUNICATIONwhichlieswithintheFederalCourt’s
exclusivejurisdiction.
TheDefendantssoughtadeclarationofnon-enforcibilityofthemarkILLICO
COMMUNICATIONagainstthembasedontheargumentthatthePlaintiffhad
abandonedthismarkassociatedwithgraphicsandrelatedservices.TheCourt
heldthattherewasnoevidencebeforeitthatwouldallowforaconclusionof
abandonment.
(iii)TheissueofprescriptionwasnotaddressedinlightoftheCourtsfindings
onineffectiveness.
Conclusion
Basedontheabovefindings,theSuperiorCourtdeniedthePlaintiff’s
injunctionrequest.Insodoing,thisdecisionsupportsthewaveof
jurisprudencewhichdemonstratesthatinjunctionsaredifficulttoobtain,
particularlyinthecasewheretheproductsand/orservicesinquestion
radicallydifferfromoneanother.Trade-markpractitionersshoulderronthe
sideofcautionwhencontemplatingsuchanactioninvolvingwares/services
whichareunrelated.

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