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Okt 08, 2015
Susannah Rolston, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canada
Nicole Zeit, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canada
Patricia Brooks, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canada

Umbrella Brands: The Canadian Approach


Susannah Rolston, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canada, Nicole Zeit, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, Canada, Patricia Brooks, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, CanadaUmbrella brands are vital assets to many businesses. They distinguish a company’s products from those of competitors. Umbrella brands also carry significant goodwill and can have an immediate and positive impact on consumers’ impressions of new products bearing the mark. One only has to look to the universal brand recognition of APPLE or VIRGIN to see the power of a strong umbrella brand. But what if umbrella brands could do more for companies? What if umbrella brands could also be leveraged to increase the registrability of an otherwise unregistrable trademark? Recent Canadian case law suggests that this may in fact be possible.
There is limited case law in Canada dealing specifically with the impact of adding a company’s umbrella brand to a trademark in order to overcome a lack of distinctiveness or likelihood of confusion. Despite this, the jurisprudence that does exist points to a variety of  read more