Conflict Over IP Rights to Canadian Icon

Three parties, Tall Ship Art Productions Ltd. (a private entity), Bluenose II Preservation Trust Society (a charitable trust), and the Government of the Province of Nova Scotia, will soon get their day in court over ownership of rights relating to the name and image of Bluenose II.   The original Bluenose was a famous Nova Scotia-based sailing ship of the early 20th Century.   It appears on Canadian dimes and on Nova Scotia vehicle licence plates. Although the original ship foundered in 1946, a replica was built and purchased by the Nova Scotia Government.   Bluenose II has been maintained and operated since 1994 by Bluenose II Preservation Trust Society (the Society), funded partly by the Nova Scotia Government. The Society has now begun to assert rights to Bluenose marks and images, on the basis of copyright in design of the ship, acquired from the family of the original ship designer, and on the basis of a number of official marks advertised under section 9 of the Trade-marks Act.   Tall Ship Art Productions Ltd. (Tall Ships), a small souvenir, art and music-marketing company, is defending claims by the Society based on these rights.   Tall Ships has been marketing Bluenose products for 27 years, since well before the official marks of the Society.   The Nova Scotia Government claims the sole right to protect the schooner's name and image, and the Nova Scotia Supreme Court recently granted it the right to intervene in the case (see Bluenose II v Tall Ships, [2003] NSJ No 320). This case is expected to address a host of related trade-mark and copyright issues. For reports of the dispute, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I13B21BF5; or http://makeashorterlink.com/?R14B26BF5. For background on the Bluenose and the Bluenose II, see these sites: http://www.tourcanada.com/bluenose.htm; or http://www.bluenose2.ns.ca/public_html/english/news.html. Summary prepared by: Peter K. Wang If you have questions about trade-marks, official marks or copyright, contact Gervas Wall (gwall@dww.com) or Hung Nguyen (hnguyen@dww.com).