Survey Evidence Shows that the Word Nordiques Brings to Mind the Nordiques Hockey Team
S
URVEYEVIDENCESHOWSTHATTHEWORDNORDIQUES
BRINGSTOMINDTHENORDIQUESHOCKEYTEAM
CATHERINEBERGERON*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADEMARKAGENTS
Accessoiresd’AutosNordiquesInc.v.CanadianTireCorp.,2007FCA367
(FederalCourtofAppeal,RichardC.J.)
ThisisanappealofadecisionrenderedbyJusticeBlaisoftheFederalCourt
allowinganappealbytheRespondent,CanadianTireCorporation(hereinafter
“CanadianTire”orthe“Respondent”),undersection56oftheTrade-marksAct
(hereinafterthe“Act”).
1.TheRegistrar’sdecision
CanadianTirefiledanapplication,basedonproposeduse,toregisterthetrade-
markNORDIC&SnowflakeDesign(hereinafterthetrade-mark“NORDIC”)forusein
associationwithtires.Accessoiresd’AutosNordiquesInc.(hereinafter“Accessoires
d’Autos”orthe“Applicant”)opposedCanadianTire’sapplication,alleginga
likelihoodofconfusionwith,amongstothers,itspreviouslyregisteredandused
trade-markNORDIQUESinassociationwithautomobilepartsandaccessories.
Accessoiresd’AutoswassuccessfulbeforetheRegistrarasitwasfoundthat:(a)
CanadianTiredidnotprove,onabalanceofprobabilities,thatthereisnolikelihood
ofconfusionbetweenthetwotrade-markswhenusedinassociationwithautomobile
partsandaccessories;(b)bothtrade-markshaveacommonalityofideasbecause
bothsuggestthatthewaresaremeanttobeusedduringwinter;(c)theyare
phoneticallyidenticaltoamonolingualFrenchspeakingperson;(d)thereisoverlap
betweensomeofthewarescoveredbytheNORDIQUES’certificateofregistration
andthewareslistedintheNORDICapplication;(e)thenatureofbothparties’
businessissimilar;and(f)theNORDICtrade-markisnotdistinctivewithinthe
meaningofsection2oftheAct.
©CIPS,2007.*Lawyer,CatherineBergeronisamemberofLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirm
oflawyers,andpatentandtrade-markagents.Publication293.048.
2
ItisworthnotingthattheRegistrarrefusedtoacceptCanadianTire’sargumentthat
thetrade-markNORDICevokedthenameofthedefunctNHLhockeyteam,Quebec
Nordiques,andnottheApplicant’strade-markNORDIQUESbecauseCanadianTire
failedtofileevidencesupportingsuchaconclusion.
2.TheFederalCourt’sdecision
CanadianTireappealedtheRegistrar’sdecisiontotheFederalCourtandfiled
additionalevidenceestablishingthatintheQuebecarea,wheretheApplicant’s
enterpriseislocated,thetrade-markNORDIQUESevokesimagesofthehockey
teamandnottheApplicant’strade-mark.
Inhisreviewofthelikelihoodofconfusionbetweenthemarksatissue,JusticeBlais
mainlyagreedwiththeconclusionsoftheRegistrar,butnotonthecriteriaof
subsection6(5)(e)oftheActashedeterminedthatthetrade-markswerevery
differentinappearance,evokeddifferentideasandthattherehadbeennoinstance
ofconfusion.Basedonthatreasoning,theRegistrar’sdecision,foundtobe
incorrect,wassetaside.
3.TheFederalCourtofAppeal’sdecision
TheFederalCourtofAppealfoundthatJusticeBlaisconductedtheappropriate
analysisoftheissueinreviewingtheRegistrar’sfindingonastandardof
correctness.Ontheissueofthestandardofreview,theFederalCourtofAppeal
wentbytheprinciplesofthedecisionMolsonBreweriesv.JohnLabattLtd.,[2000]3
F.C.145andwrotethat:
“WhennoadditionalevidenceisintroducedbeforetheFederalCourt,the
standardofreviewapplicabletotheRegistrar’sdecisionsoffact,lawor
discretionisreasonableness.Whensuchevidenceisintroduced,however,the
standardofreviewisdifferentasnotedbyJusticeRothstein:
However,whereadditionalevidenceisadducedintheTrialDivisionthat
wouldhavemateriallyaffectedtheRegistrar’sfindingsoffactorthe
exerciseofhisdiscretion,theTrialDivisionmustcometohisorherown
conclusionastothecorrectnessoftheRegistrar’sdecision(Molson
Breweries,para.51).”
1
TheadditionalevidencefiledbyCanadianTireshednewlightontheanalysisofthe
elementsofsubsection6(5)(e)oftheActpertainingtothedegreeofresemblance
3
betweenthemarksatissue,andledthejudgetoconcludethattheRegistrar’s
applicationofsubsection6(5)(e)oftheActwasincorrect.AstheFederalCourtdid
notcommitanyreviewableerror,theappealwasdismissed.
4
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