Countdown to Canada's new Trademarks Act: Extensions and voluntary classification

Changes to Canada's Trademarks Act scheduled to take effect on June 17 have led to a noted increase in trolling activity and filing of "all-class" applications. We anticipate that Canada's adoption of the Madrid Protocol will also lead to a large number of incoming international applications.

Trademark owners should consider filing new applications or requests to extend existing registrations to cover additional goods/services of interest NOW, to avoid per-class filing fees and the anticipated influx of new applications.

A recent change in Trademarks Office practice means that unclassified applications will no longer be approved for publication by the Office. Voluntarily classify pending applications NOW in order to avoid the backlog and get your application approved for publication under the current Trademarks Act.

For more information about what these changes will mean for your business, please visit our dedicated Trademarks Act resource centre. 

Subscribe to our IP Report to receive additional alerts from our trademarks team as we continue to count down the days until the new Act comes into effect.