Trademarks are federal. Incorporating in Ontario or registering a business name gives you no trademark rights at all. A registration under the Trademarks Act gives you the exclusive right to your brand across Canada for the goods and services you claim. Our flat fee is $1,128.87, taxes in. CIPO's fees are extra.
Our charges include applicable taxes. Disbursements are extra and billed at cost — itemized upfront, in writing, never hidden.
From $1,128.87 taxes included
Using a name in business gives you unregistered rights, but only in the area where you can prove a reputation, and enforcing them means proving that reputation from scratch every time. It is slow, expensive and uncertain.
A registration under the Trademarks Act gives you the exclusive right to use the mark throughout Canada for the goods and services listed, and stands as proof of your ownership. It also blocks later applicants at the examination stage, supports a border services recordation against counterfeits, and answers the trademark ownership questions that come up in franchising, licensing and financing.
The trademarks register does not care that you incorporated first. Ontario corporate names and business name registrations are checked against corporate name databases, not against trademarks. Having your corporate name approved is not a defence to an infringement claim.
Search first. A proper search covers the register, pending applications, corporate names and unregistered common-law use. Filing without one is how businesses spend two years and a filing fee only to be told the mark is confusing with something that was findable on day one.
Then file. You list goods and services in classes under the Nice classification, and CIPO charges per class: currently $491.06 for the first class and $149.04 for each additional class. Those fees are set federally, adjusted periodically, and are not refunded if the application fails.
Then wait. An examiner reviews the application for confusion with existing marks, descriptiveness, whether the mark is primarily merely a name or surname, and prohibited marks. Objections arrive as a written examiner's report with a deadline to respond. Most substantive objections are arguable, because descriptiveness and confusion are both matters of degree, but arguing adds months.
If it clears, the mark is advertised in the Trademarks Journal and anyone may oppose it within a set window. Unopposed, it registers. A registration lasts ten years and renews indefinitely on payment of the renewal fee.
Descriptive names are the most common refusal. A name that clearly describes the character or quality of the goods, or the place they come from, cannot be registered unless you can prove it has already become distinctive of you through use. Coined and suggestive names register easily; literal ones do not. That is worth knowing before you order signage.
Since 2019 you no longer have to have used the mark before it registers. But you cannot enforce a registration against anyone during the first three years unless the mark was actually in use, and after three years a registration can be knocked out through a summary non-use procedure if you cannot show use in Canada for the goods and services claimed. A defensive list of goods you will never sell is a liability, not an asset.
Control your licensed use. If a related company, a franchisee or a distributor uses your mark, the licence must give you control over the character and quality of the goods or services, or the mark's distinctiveness can be attacked. Informal use across a family of companies is a standard weak point and an easy one to fix on paper.
Canadian trademark examination is slow. It commonly takes a couple of years from filing before an examiner picks the file up, and longer where there are objections or an opposition. Expedited examination exists for a narrow set of circumstances, such as an active court proceeding or ongoing counterfeiting.
Your filing date holds your place, so filing early matters more than filing perfectly. If you filed abroad first, a Canadian application filed within six months of that first filing can claim the earlier priority date. If you want protection in other countries, the Madrid Protocol lets you extend a Canadian application to many of them from a single filing.
In the meantime, use the mark, keep dated evidence of use such as invoices, packaging and advertising, and use the TM symbol. The registered symbol is only for marks that have actually registered.
No. Incorporating reserves a corporate name in one registry. It does not give you trademark rights, and it does not stop someone holding a registered trademark from making you rebrand. The two systems check different databases and apply different tests. Plenty of businesses have had an Ontario corporate name approved and still had to change it after a demand letter.
Longer than most people expect, typically a couple of years, and more if the examiner raises objections or the mark is opposed. Your rights date back to the filing date, so the wait is less painful than it sounds. Check current wait times with CIPO before you plan around them, because they have moved a great deal in recent years.
Our flat fee for the legal work is $1,128.87, taxes included. CIPO's government fee is separate and charged per class of goods and services, currently $491.06 for the first class and $149.04 for each additional class. Responding to an examiner's report or defending an opposition is additional work and is quoted separately if it arises.
Almost certainly not as filed. Marks that clearly describe the goods or services, or their place of origin, are refused. You can sometimes register a distinctive logo containing the words while disclaiming the words themselves, or register the plain words later once you can prove consumers associate them specifically with you. If you still have a choice, pick something coined or suggestive.
No. There is one national register. A Canadian registration covers all of Canada, including Ontario. Separate applications are needed for other countries, though the Madrid Protocol lets you file for many of them through a single application based on your Canadian one.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.