Use of a Trade-Name in Breach of an Agreement: the Interlocutory Injunction’s Principles Reviewed by the Ontarian Superior Court of Justice
U
SEOFATRADE-NAMEINBREACHOFANAGREEMENT:THE
INTERLOCUTORYINJUNCTION’SPRINCIPLESREVIEWEDBYTHEONTARIAN
SUPERIORCOURTOFJUSTICE
CatherineDaigle*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
IslamicSocietyofNorthAmerica(ISNACanada)v.ShahrukhTeherany,Suraiya
Teheranyand1176630OntarioInc.,2007CanLII37681(ONS.C.)(Docket07-CV-
336270PD2),ThorburnJ.,September13,2007
InarecentdecisionrenderedbytheOntarianSuperiorCourtofJustice,aninterim
andinterlocutoryinjunctionwasgrantedtotheIslamicSocietyofNorthAmerica(the
“Plaintiff”)inordertopreventShahrukhandSuraiyaTeherany(collectively,the
“Defendants”)fromusingtheISNATravelServicesandESNATravel’strade-names,
oranyvariationthereof.
Inthiscase,1176630OntarioInc.wasinitiallyincorporatedbythePlaintiffasatravel
agencywhichoperatedunderthenameISNATravelService.In2006,the
corporationwassoldtotheDefendants.
OneoftheactivitiesofferedbyboththePlaintiffandtheDefendantsisthe
organizationofpilgrimagestoSaudiArabia.Ascontractuallyagreedtobytheparties,
theDefendantswereallowedtousetheISNATravelServicestrade-nameforan
initialperiodofoneyearfromtheclosingdate,deadlinewhichwasafterward
extendeduntilJuly2007,whereasthePlaintiffcontinuouslyusedsaidtrade-name.
AlthoughthePlaintiffdoesnotdenytheDefendant’srighttoorganizepilgrimagesto
SaudiArabia,itneverthelessrequestthattheyceaseusingitstrade-nametodoso.
Indeed,theDefendantshavebeenusingtheISNATravelServicestrade-namewhen
obtainingvisasfromtheSaudiKingdom,andhavealsobeenusingitindealingwith
thepublic.Astheseactivitiesareincontraventionwiththeparties’agreement,the
PlaintifffiledamotionagainsttheDefendants.
©CIPS,2007.*Lawyer,CatherineDaigleisamemberofLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmof
lawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.
2
TheDefendants,whoarenotdisputingthattheyhavebeeninbreachoftheir
agreementwiththePlaintiff,suggestoperatingunderthenameESNATravel,which
nameisarguedbythePlaintifftobeconfusinglysimilarwithitstrade-name.
Inconsideringwhetherornottheinterlocutoryinjunctionshouldbegranted,theCourt
hastodetermineif(i)thereisaseriousissuetobetried;(ii)thePlaintiffhassuffered
irreparableharm;and(iii)thebalanceofconveniencefavoursthemovingparty.
SincetheDefendantsdonotdisputetheirbreachoftheagreement,theCourthas
foundthatthereisaseriousissuetobetried.
Sincethereisaclearandnondisputedbreachoftheagreementconcludedbetween
theparties,theCourtbaseditsdecisiononcaselawinvirtueofwhichthereisno
needforthePlaintifftoestablishirreparableharm,nortodemonstratethatthe
balanceofconvenienceliesinitsfavourinordertoobtainaninterlocutoryinjunction.
3
ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesde
commercevouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdela
propriétéintellectuelledanstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielset
modèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marquesdecertificationet
appellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droits
voisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;
biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;secretsde
commerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchisesettransfertsde
technologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérification
diligenteetaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademark
agentsdedicatedsince1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofall
fieldsofintellectualproperty:patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;
trademarks,certificationmarksandindicationsoforigin;copyrightand
entertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;computer,
softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplant
breeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,
franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,distributionandbusiness
law;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELA
PLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOURIDEASTO
THEWORLD