Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Two Landmark Trade-mark Cases in 2005
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SUPREMECOURTOFCANADATOHEARTWOLANDMARKTRADE-MARKCASESIN
2005
AdamMizera*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTardemarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8
thfloor
Montreal(Quebec)CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)987-6242-Fax(514)845-7874
info@robic.com–www.robic.ca
IntellectualpropertyissuesarenotoftenfoundonthedocketattheSupreme
CourtofCanada.Moreparticularly,ithasbeenseveralyearssinceacase
involvingatrade-markdisputehasbeenheardattheSupremeCourtlevel.
However,bytheendoftheyearin2005,theSupremeCourtwillprobably
haveheardoralargumentsintwoseparatecasesinwhichpractitionersinthe
fieldoftrade-marklawwillavidlyawaittheCourt’sfindings.Thefirstcase
relatestothedebateonwhetherafunctionalfeaturecouldproperlybethe
subject-matteroftrade-markprotection,whilethesecondcaseconsidersthe
scopeofprotectionthatshouldbeaccordedtofamousandwell-known
marks.
Trade-marksandfunctionality–theLegoCase
OralargumentsinthecasebetweenKirkbiAGetal.andRitvikHoldingsInc.
wererecentlypresentedtotheSupremeCourtonMarch16,2005.Kirkbiisa
memberoftheLegoGroupofcompanieswhichmanufacturesthepopular
Legobuildingblocksforchildren.RitvikHoldings(nowknownasMegaBloks)
marketsasubstantiallyidenticalblockwithcylindricalcouplingstudsonthe
uppersurfaceblockwhichenablesattachmentwithothersimilarblocks.
KirkbithereforeinstitutedproceedingsagainstMegaBloksalleging
infringementofitsunregisteredtrade-markrights.
Relyinguponsection7(b)oftheTrade-MarksAct,whichpreventsapartyfrom
directingpublicattentiontoitswaresinsuchawayastocauseconfusion
withthewaresofanother,KirkbiarguedthatMegaBlokswaspassing-offits
blocksforthoseproducedbyLego.MegaBloksrepliedthatKirkbi’strade-
markrightscouldnotextendtothebuildingblockswithcouplingstudsin
©CIPS,2005*LawyerandEngineer,withLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.PublishedintheAprilissueofThe
LawyersWeekly.Publication62.011.
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generalsincethecouplingstudshaveaprimarilyfunctionalroleinrelationto
theproduct.BothfederaltrialandappealcourtsagreedwithMegaBloks
position.
TwomajorissuesweredebatedattheSupremeCourt.Firstly,thereisa
questionwhetherthedoctrineoffunctionalityusedbythelowercourtsintheir
analysisappliestounregisteredtrade-markssincesuchmarksdonotgranta
monopolytotheirowners.Secondly,MegaBlokshasattackedthe
constitutionalityofsection7(b)oftheTrade-MarksActbysubmittingthatit
intrudesuponprovincialjurisdiction.TheSupremeCourt’seventualopinionon
thesetwoissueswillbeeagerlyawaited.
ProtectionofFamousTrade-Marks–theVEUVECLICQUOTcase
Laterthisyear,theSupremeCourtiscurrentlyplanningtohearanappealofa
casebetweenVeuveClicquotPonsardinandLesBoutiquesCliquotLtée.
VeuveClicquotiswell-knowninCanadaandaroundtheworldforits
manufacturing,sellinganddistributionofchampagneproducts,forwhichit
hadregisteredtrade-marksincorporatingthewordCLICQUOTasearlyas
1909inCanadaforusesinceatleast1899.LesBoutiquesCliquotistheowner
andoperatorofsixretailstoresassociatedwiththenamesCLIQUOTandLES
BOUTIQUESCLIQUOT,forwhichitobtainedregistrationoftwotrade-marks
comprisingthewordCLIQUOTasearlyas1997.VeuveClicquotbroughtan
actionagainstLesBoutiquesCliquotforinfringementofitsregisteredmark,
unfaircompetitionandpassingoff.
BoththeFederalCourtTrialDivisionandCourtofAppealdismissedVeuve
Clicquot’sclaimsbydeterminingthattheVeuveClicquot’sactivitiesand
thoseofLesBoutiquesCliquotweresodifferentthattherewasnolikelihoodof
confusionbetweenthetwoinconsumers’minds.However,anumberof
elementscouldbeusedtosupportVeuveClicquot’sposition.TheVEUVE
CLICQUOTmarkhasbeenassociatednotonlywithchampagnebutalsowith
promotionalitemssuchasfashionarticles.VeuveClicquothadalso
advertiseditsproductsinfashionmagazines,andhassupportedfashion
events.Courtshadevendeterminedthattherewasagreatamountof
resemblancebetweenthemarksofthetwoparties.VeuveClicquotinits
argumentsreliedona1998FederalCourtofAppealdecisioninPinkPanther
BeautyCorp.v.UnitedArtistsCorp.([1998]3F.C.534),toattempttoestablish
thattherewasasufficientconnectionbetweenitswaresandtheclothing
storesofthedefendant.InthePinkPanthercase,theCourtdeterminedthat
therewasnosufficientlinkandthereforenolikelihoodofconfusionbetween
thefamousPINKPANTHERmoviesandPINKPANTHERbeautyproductsand
services.Whilethelowercourtsdidnotfindthattherewasasufficient
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connectionbetweenVeuveClicquotandLesBoutiquesCliquot,theSupreme
CourtisbeingaskedwhetherthePinkPanthertestwasincorrectlyappliedin
thiscase.
WithrespecttoboththeLegoandtheVeuveClicquotcases,theCanadian
intellectualpropertycommunitywillbeeagerlyawaitingfordirectionfromthe
SupremeCourtthisyearandnext,sincepronouncementsbytheCourton
suchissuesoftrade-marklawarefewandfarbetween.
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