What the four types of intellectual property protect, and how to lock down your brand.
Who this is for: Ontario founders and small-business owners who've built something worth protecting — a name, a logo, a product, a process, or code. What you'll get: a plain-language tour of the four kinds of intellectual property, how trademark registration in Canada works at a high level, and a checklist to secure your brand.
⚖️ This is a general guide, not legal advice. It can't account for your specific situation. Use it to get oriented, then confirm the details with a licensed Ontario lawyer.
Intellectual property (IP) is the legal name for things you create with your mind — your brand, your inventions, your writing, your code. It's often a business's most valuable asset and, ironically, the one owners protect last. Here are the five things to understand.
1. The four types of IP — and what each protects
Intellectual property isn't one thing. There are four main types in Canada, and they protect different things in different ways. (A fifth, the industrial design, is also registered with CIPO — it protects the visual appearance of a finished product, its shape, configuration, pattern or ornament, rather than how the product works.)
| Type | Protects | Examples | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trademark | Brand identifiers that distinguish your goods/services | Business name, logo, slogan, product name | Use it — and (better) register with CIPO |
| Copyright | Original creative/expressive works | Website copy, code, photos, videos, designs, music | Automatic on creation; registration is optional |
| Patent | New, useful, non-obvious inventions | A novel device, process, or machine | Apply to CIPO; rigorous and time-limited |
| Trade secret | Valuable confidential information | Recipes, formulas, customer lists, methods | Keep it secret (via NDAs and controls) |
A closer look:
- Trademark protects the symbols customers use to recognize you — so a competitor can't trade on your reputation.
- Copyright arises automatically the moment you create an original work. You own the copyright in what you write, photograph, design, or code — but proving ownership and date is easier if you keep records or register.
- Patent protects inventions, but it's the most demanding: the invention must be new and non-obvious, and protection is time-limited. Patents are a specialized area — get expert advice early, and note that public disclosure before filing can jeopardize your rights.
- Trade secret protects information that has value because it's secret. There's no registration — protection lasts only as long as you keep it confidential, which is why NDAs and access controls matter.
💡 Why it matters: Your brand might be a trademark, your website a copyright, your method a trade secret, and your invention a patent — all at once. Knowing which is which tells you how to protect each.
2. Why register a trademark (instead of relying on common-law rights)
In Canada you get some rights just by using a trademark in business — these are common-law rights. But they're limited, and registration is far stronger.
| Common-law (unregistered) | Registered trademark | |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic scope | Only where you can prove a reputation | All of Canada |
| Proving your rights | You must prove use and reputation — costly | The registration is your proof |
| Stopping copycats | Harder and more expensive | Clear, nationwide right to enforce |
| Public notice | None | On a public register others must search |
| Duration | As long as you use it (hard to prove) | Renewable for successive terms |
💡 Why it matters: Without registration, defending your brand means proving — case by case, region by region — that customers associate the name with you. A registration gives you a single, nationwide right that's far cheaper and clearer to enforce.
⚠️ Watch out: If you don't register and someone else does first for a similar mark, you could be the one forced to rebrand — even though you used it first in your area. Registering early protects the brand you're investing in.
3. The Canadian trademark process (high level)
Trademarks in Canada are handled by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), a federal agency. The process, in broad strokes:
- Search. Before you commit to a name, search to see if it's already taken or too close to an existing mark. This avoids investing in a brand you can't own — or that infringes someone else's.
- File the application with CIPO, describing your mark and the goods/services it covers.
- Examination. CIPO reviews the application against the rules and existing marks, and may raise objections you respond to.
- Advertisement and opposition. Approved applications are published so others can oppose if they believe the mark conflicts with theirs.
- Registration. If there's no successful opposition and requirements are met, the mark registers and is renewable for successive terms.
⚠️ Timelines and fees change — and the process is rarely quick. Trademark applications can take a long time from filing to registration, and government fees are revised periodically. Treat any timeline or fee figure you've seen as "as of writing," and verify the current amounts and processing times directly with CIPO before you plan around them.
💡 Tip: The search step is the one owners skip and regret. A proper availability search before you print signage, buy domains, and build a following is the single best money you can spend on a brand.
4. Business name vs. trademark — they're not the same
This trips up almost every new owner. Registering a business name and owning a trademark are different things.
- Registering a business name (or incorporating) lets you legally operate under that name and satisfies registration rules. It does not give you exclusive rights to the name as a brand.
- A trademark gives you the right to stop others from using a confusingly similar name for similar goods or services.
In other words: a business-name registration is about being allowed to use the name; a trademark is about owning it. Two businesses can have similar registered names while only one holds the trademark.
💡 Why it matters: Don't assume that because you incorporated "Maple & Co. Inc." or registered the business name, no one else can use "Maple." Protecting the brand takes a trademark.
5. Protecting your brand beyond the registry
A trademark is the foundation, but real-world brand protection is broader.
- Domains. Register the domain names that match your brand — including obvious variations and the main extensions — before someone else does.
- Social handles. Claim your business name on the platforms that matter to you, even ones you don't use yet, so a copycat (or squatter) can't.
- Get IP assigned from founders and contractors. This is the big one. Copyright in work usually belongs to the person who created it unless ownership is transferred in writing. (The main exception is an employee: under the Copyright Act, s. 13 (3), work made in the course of employment normally belongs to the employer from the start, absent an agreement otherwise. A contractor is not an employee.) So if a freelancer designed your logo or a developer wrote your code, they may own it — not your company — until they sign an assignment transferring the rights to the business. The same caution applies to founders: make sure all IP created for the company is formally assigned to the company.
- Use NDAs. Before sharing confidential information — formulas, customer lists, plans, prototypes — with contractors, partners, or potential buyers, have them sign a non-disclosure agreement. It's how you keep a trade secret a trade secret.
⚠️ Watch out: Many startups discover, often during a sale or financing, that they don't actually own their own logo, website, or software because no assignment was ever signed. Fix this early — get written IP assignments from everyone who builds anything for you.
Your brand-protection checklist
Before you launch a brand
- Run an availability search for the name/logo
- Confirm the matching domains are available and register them
- Claim the social handles you'll want
- Check the name isn't confusingly close to an existing mark
To protect your IP
- File a trademark application with CIPO for your core brand (verify current fees/timelines)
- Keep records of when you created original works (copyright)
- Identify any trade secrets and the controls protecting them
- Get written IP assignments from every founder and contractor
- Use NDAs before sharing anything confidential
- Note renewal dates for your trademark and domains
Ongoing
- Watch for copycats and address infringement promptly
- Re-confirm ownership whenever new contractors create work
- Review your IP whenever you raise money or consider selling
Mini-FAQ
Do I have to register copyright? No — copyright is automatic on creation in Canada. Registration is optional but can help prove ownership if a dispute arises.
How long does a trademark last? A registration can be renewed for successive terms, so it can last indefinitely as long as you keep renewing and using it. Confirm the current renewal term and fees with CIPO.
Is my business-name registration enough to protect my brand? No. It lets you operate under the name but doesn't give you exclusive brand rights. For that, you need a trademark.
Who owns the logo my freelancer designed? Often the freelancer — until they sign an assignment transferring the copyright to your business. Always get the assignment in writing.
How Treadstone Law can help
Treadstone Law helps Ontario businesses protect what they've built — advising on the right mix of trademark, copyright, and trade-secret protection, guiding the Canadian trademark process, and drafting the IP assignments and NDAs that make sure your company actually owns its brand, code, and content.
- Flat fees quoted up front — see our pricing.
- Start online anytime with our intake form, or call 1-844-900-1070.
- Learn more about our corporate services.
This is not legal advice
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Ontario laws, tax rates, and government programs change, and how the law applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, speak with a licensed Ontario lawyer. Treadstone Law is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario — reach us at 1-844-900-1070 or start a file online.