New Canadian TM Laws Entered Into Force on 6/17/2019

New Canadian trademark laws entered into force on June 17th, 2019 bringing many important changes.

Some of the changes include:

• Accession to the Madrid Protocol, allowing entities in Canada to obtain trademark registrations in other member countries with a single application and a single set of fees, and allowing entities in other member countries to designate Canada among the countries in which they wish to obtain trademark registrations through the same process;
• Elimination of use or filing bases to obtain a registration;
• Trademark registrations and renewals will now have a 10 year term, rather than 15 years;
• Trademark will need to be considered distinctive to obtain registration;
• Classification of trademarks will be officially introduced, together with a new per-class fee structure.