The Best Trademarks: 6 Tips to Keep in Mind

2011-01-01

THEBESTTRADEMARKS:6TIPSTOKEEPINMIND

BOBH.SOTIRIADISANDMANONMOREAU*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

Atrademarkcanbeavaluableassetforacorporation.Itisthereforerecommended
thatcarefulconsiderationandimportancebegiventotheselectionofatrademark.

Whatisatrademark?Itcanconsistofaword,adrawingorevenasign,asound,or
ashapewhichaimstodistinguishyourproductsorservicesfromthoseofyour
competitors.Itsvaluewillbebasedonits”distinctiveness”.

Hereareafewusefultipsthatcanassistyouinchoosingthebesttrademark.

1)SIMPLICITY
Yourtrademarkshouldbeveryeasyfortheconsumertoremember.

2)ORIGINALITY
Beinventive.Thetrademarkshouldbetheresultofcarefulconsideration;itis
importanttocomeupwithatrademarkthatdoesnotexist.Therearecaseswhere
companiesinadvertentlychooseexistingtrademarks:thisisamistakethatcan
provetobecostlyasitsregistrationmayberefusedand/orwillnotallowto
differentiateyourproductsorservicesfromothers.Inthisregard,itisalways
recommendedtosearchtheavailabilityofatrademarkbeforeadoptingit.

Sinceapproximately45000trademarkapplicationsarefiledinCanadaeveryyear,
youmustfindawaytostandout!ThisdoesnotevenincludetheCommonLaw
trademarks,usedwithoutanyregistration…
3)NON-DESCRIPTIVECHARACTER
Avoidchoosingadescriptivetrademarkoftheproductsand/orservicesin
associationwithwhichyouintendtouseit.UnderCanadianlaw(andeven
elsewhere),atrademarkisnotregistrableifitis“depicted,writtenorsounded,either
clearlydescriptiveordeceptivelymisdescriptiveintheEnglishorFrenchlanguageof
thecharacterorqualityofthewaresorservicesinassociationwithwhichitisused

©CIPS,2011.*FromROBIC,LLP,multidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSpring2011(Vol.15,no.1)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.134E.

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orproposedtobeusedoroftheconditionsoforthepersonsemployedintheir
productionoroftheirplaceoforigin”.
Examplesofrefusedtrademarks:
ThetrademarkCHEAPTICKETSfortheservicesofatravelagencywasrevokedin
2007bytheFederalCourtonaccountofthebasisofdescriptivecharacterofits
services.
ThetrademarkPHARMACIE.CAforhumanandanimalhealthpharmaceutical
productsandforthemanufacturingservicesoftheseproductswasrefusedbythe
TrademarkOppositionBoardin2007becausethetrademark,intheeyesofthe
consumer,advertisesproductsrelatedtoapharmacyandthatareavailable
electronically.
4)METHODOFUSE
Howatrademarkisusedisimportantandmustallowconsumerstorecognizeit.Itis
oftenusefultoprovidestaffwithtraininginthisregard.

Afewpointstobearinmind:
·thetrademarkshouldalwaysstandoutfromtherestofthetext;
inthecaseofawordtrademark(madeupofoneorseveralwords
withoutalogo),boldfaceorcapitalletterscanbeused,forexample,in
additiontothemarking;
·inthecaseofagraphictrademark(withalogo),alwaysusethesame
graphics.Ifthegraphicofyourtrademarkchangesovertheyears,a)
theregistrationofanewtrademarkwillneedtobeconsidered,andb)
youmaybeatriskofathirdpartyrequestingthecancellationofyour
registrationforlackofuseofthetrademarkasregistered;
·theproductorservicemustnotbeconfusedwiththetrademark(for
example,therightuseofwordswouldbe”doyouhaveKLEENEX
tissuepaper?”andnot”doyouhaveaKLEENEX?”)inordertoprevent
yourtrademarkfrombecomingagenerictermandlosingits
distinctiveness.

5)DURATION
Thinklong-term.Atrademarkmustbe‘builttolast’.Atrademarkregistrationin
Canadalasts15years,whereaselsewhereit’soften10years,renewable.

6)INTERNATIONAL
Ifyouareforecastingfuturedevelopmentsforyourproductsorservicesinthe
internationalmarket,youwillneedtoconsiderhowyourtrademarkwillbeperceived
bytheseconsumers.Forexample,atrademarkthatyouhaveadoptedinCanada
mayhavenegativeconnotationsinaforeignculture.Thiswouldhaveadirecteffect
ontheinterestgiventoyourproductsorservices.

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CONCLUSION
Thestrongesttrademarksareundoubtedlythosethatprovideanimageor
expressionthatiscompletelynew,simpleandhasnodefinedmeaningoratleast
notameaningrelatedtothegoodsand/orservicesbeingoffered(i.e.,anapplefora
computer).Alsorememberthatthefirstimpressionforaconsumerisoftena
decisiveone.
THESTRONGESTTRADEMARKS:
AccordingtoMillwardBrown’sTop100strongesttrademarksof2010,thefollowing
arethe5mostvaluabletrademarks:
1)GOOGLE(&design),worth$114,260M
2)IBM(&design),worth$86,383M
3)APPLE(&design),worth$83,153M
4)MICROSOFT(&design),worth$76,344M
5)COCA-COLA(&design),worth$67,983M

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