In Canada, most of the applications received in order to register a trademark in the country face an initial refusal as result of confusion of mark of the applied with that of the pending application and sometimes even with already registered similar marks. In most of such cases, the applicant provides a consent letter mentioning that the owner of the mentioned marks approves to the registration and use of the mark of the applicant. However, it is evident that in recent times the letter of consents hardly convinces the Examiner so that he or she could withdraw the opposition. According to the reliable source, the situation is going to change very soon.
It is worth to mention over here that under existing Canadian law, if two similar marks would not be able to exist in the same time until and unless they belong to the same legal entity in case, the Examiner found that two marks are confusing. In general, it does not raise any problem in case the owner of the earlier mark has offered approval to the listing of the later mark or they are related to same companies. In case, the marks are owned by different organizations, the Canadian Trade marks would suppose to refuse registration of the applied mark and any approval on that is usually given a limited weight.
It is reported that despite of the fact that the owners of the marks do not have any objection in the co-existence of the marks, still it is evident that common people get confused that often misleads them in their selection of the product or services. This problem leads to the proposed change in the Act, as one of the important roles of the Trademarks office of Canada is to offer the citizens security. This law also creates problems to several brand owners especially to the foreign owners.
According to the reliable source, the Canadian Trademarks Office is considering to create a change in the system regarding the letter of consents. It is reported that in case they receive any letter of consent, they would perhaps allow the registration of the confusing mark in the name of another entity without executing any type of further argument or objection.
According to the report of Trademarks Examiner Manual at present along with providing a statement of consent, a consent letter would include a number of statements and facts where relevant.
The services or products are dissimilar enough so that they are not supposed to do their business through same channels of trade in the marketplace. Two similar trademarks exist in the same time without any recognized occurrences of confusion. There would no chance of in the mind of the consumers as the result of simultaneous use of trademarks in the marketplace. In addition, most importantly, in order to avoid the chance of confusion in the market, both of the parties are required to do everything they are able to do.
However, the respective authority does not provide any information if the modification in the practice regarding letters of consent will be accompanied by the new law directive related to the content of such letters.
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