CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: Casey Chisick, Steven Kennedy, Karen MacDonald, Jessica Zagar, Dian Howard and Steven Henderson, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Suite 3200, Bay Adelaide Centre North Tower
40 Temperance Street Toronto, ON M5H 0B4 Canada
Tel: +1 416 869 5300 Fax: +1 416 360 8877 Email: vmackenzie@cassels.com Web: www.cassels.com
1. Trade Mark and Copyright Law 1.1 Governing Law Trade Mark The governing legislation for trade marks in Canada is the Trademarks Act, which is supple - mented by the Trademarks Regulations. Canada recognises unregistered trade marks both by statute and at common law. However, unregistered trade marks have a more limited scope of protection and more onerous eviden - tiary tests for enforcement (see 4.1 Trade Mark Registration ). Copyright Copyright is exclusively a creature of statute in Canada. All rights and remedies are set out in the Copyright Act and related regulations. 1.2 Conventions and Treaties/Rights of Foreign IP Holders Trade Mark Canada is a signatory to the following: • Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects on Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); • Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA);
• Hague Convention; • Madrid Protocol; • Nice Agreement; • Paris Convention; • Singapore Treaty; and • WIPO Convention. Copyright Canada is a signatory to the following: • Berne Convention; • CUSMA; • Marrakesh Treaty; • Rome Convention; • TRIPS; • Universal Copyright Convention; • WIPO Copyright Treaty; and
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. International treaties and conventions are not self-executing. Canada has ratified and imple - mented these treaties through amendments to the Trademarks Act and the Copyright Act, which govern the rights of foreign trade mark and copyright owners in Canada, respectively.
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