The evidence of use requested in a section 45 proceeding reviewed by the Federal Court

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THEEVIDENCEOFUSEREQUESTEDINASECTION45PROCEEDINGREVIEWEDBY
THEFEDERALCOURT

By
CatherineDaigle*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria-BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242-Fax(514)8457874
info@robic.com-www.robic.ca
JagotecAGv.Riches,Mckenzie&HerbertLLP,2006FC1468(CanLII)
InanappealtothedecisionmadebytheOppositionBoardonbehalfofthe
RegistrarofTrade-markstoexpungeJagotecAG’sregisteredtrade-mark
VISIBLEYOUTHinassociationwithvariousskincareproductsfromtheregister
pursuanttosection45oftheTrade-marksAct(“theAct”),theFederalCourtof
Canada(the“FC”)hadtodecidewhethertheOppositionBoardMember
erredinfindingthattheevidenceofuseofthemarkduringtherelevant
periodwasinadequate.
1.Factualbackground
TherelevantperiodwithinwhichJagotecAGwasrequiredtofurnishevidence
ofuseofitsVISIBLEYOUTHtrade-markinaccordancewithsection45ofthe
ActwasfromOctober1999toOctober2002.Inthiscase,asJacotecAG
becametheownerofthetrade-markbyassignmentin2001,theevidence
wasmostlytobeprovidedbyitspredecessorintitle,SkyePharmaPLC.
Attheoppositionstage,theevidenceprovidedbyJagotecAGwasfoundto
beinadequatebythehearingofficer.Astheappealwasafterwardfiledand
basedontwonewaffidavits,thecourt’sstandardofreviewwastherefore
basedoncorrectness.
ThenewevidencedescribedthesalesprocessofSkyePharmaPLC’s
distributor,whowasreceivingtheCanadianorders,whichweredirectedtoa



















































©CIPS,2006.*Lawyer,CatherineDaigleisamemberofLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirm
oflawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.Publication293.042.

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Torontowarehouseforsubsequentshipment.SkyePharmaPLCwasalsothe
identityissuingtheinvoicesandreceivingpaymentfromtheCanadian
customers.Bothfiledaffidavitshadexhibitswhichincludedinvoicesissued
duringtherelevantperiod,aswellassalesrecordsandpicturesoftheVISIBLE
YOUTHproducts.
2.Analysisandconclusions
Asisitnotnecessaryinasection45proceedingforaregistranttoproduce
detailedandcompleterecordsofuse,butratheraprimafaciecaseofuse
needstobefurnished,theCourtnotedthatproofofasinglesalemadeduring
therelevantperiod,inthisparticularcasebetweenOctober1992and
October2002,wouldbeenough.
TheCourtwasinthiscasesatisfiedbytheevidencefiledinappeal,asthe
affidavitsshoweduseofthetrade-markthroughsalesofthewaresinCanada,
atleastpriortotheassignmentin2001,inthatsuchwaresweresoldin
containersorpackagingbearingthetermsVISIBLEYOUTH.
Therefore,eventhoughtheinvoicesandsalesrecordsproducedasevidence
byJagotecAGdidnotbythemselvesproveuseofthetrade-mark,theCourt
foundthattheyneverthelesssubstantiatedtheaffiant’sevidencethatsalesof
thewareshadoccurred.
Finally,thefactthatthetermsVISIBLEYOUTHappearedplacedoneabove
theotheronthewarespackagingdidnot,asarguedbytherespondent,
convincedtheCourtthatthetrade-markwasnotinfactusedasregistered.
Onthatmatter,theCourtwasoftheopinionthatanycasualobserverwould
instantlyassociatethetwowordsasbeingpartofaglobalexpression.
Inlightoftheabove,theCourtthereforeallowedtheappealwithcostto
JagotecAg.

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