On the occasion of our last article of the year 2007, we thought it might be useful to compare past and present.

Canadian trade mark filings are up for the last full year reported. While the number of applications filed has not yet reached the all time high set in 2000-2001, it is quite likely 2006-2007 will see record filings.

Canadian trade mark applications filed

The vast majority of the top 10 frequent filers were based in the United States. However, in terms of sheer numbers, Canadian companies still file more Canadian applications than do US-based companies and are responsible for more than 40% of applications filed. However, if foreign parent companies filing in the name of a Canadian subsidiary are excluded the results might differ.

Compared to the situation five years ago, the rate of filing of Canadian and American companies relative to the total number of applications has stayed remarkably constant. Overall, filings in the name of western European-based companies have stayed constant or fallen slightly whereas companies located in a number of other countries, such as Korea and Mexico, now file far more Canadian applications compared to five years ago. However, to put things in perspective, businesses in these countries file fewer than 200 trade mark applications in Canada. The number of applications filed by Chinese companies has more than doubled since 2001-2002.

We wondered how many of the trade marks registered in Canada five years ago remained in use. While there is no way to find a precise answer, we investigated 20 random marks registered in 2002 and our cursory investigations led us to believe that as many as 30% of registered marks might no longer be in use. When we considered trade marks registered 10 years ago, more than 50% appeared to be no longer in use. That's a lot of deadwood!

Coleen Morrison

 
Marks & Clerk Patent & Trade-Mark Agents
PO Box 957, Station B
Ottawa ON K1P 1C2
Canada
Tel: +1 613 236 9561
Fax: +1 613 230 8821
info@marks-clerk.ca
www.marks-clerk.ca