Trademarks Act and Regulations Updates Effective April 1

On March 18, 2025, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) published further guidance on the amendments to the Trademarks Act (the Act) and the Trademarks Regulations (the Regulations) that confer new authorities on the Registrar of Trademarks (the Registrar). The newest guidance from CIPO provides additional information about the amendments relating to official marks.

The guidance summarizes the amendments coming into force which, as previously reported by the E-TIPS® Newsletter here, give authority to the Registrar to:

• award costs in proceedings before the Trademarks Opposition Board;
• issue confidentiality orders;
• exercise case management in proceedings before the Trademarks Opposition Board;
• treat an opposition or objection proceeding as withdrawn; and
• give public notice that the prohibition to adopt or use a particular official mark no longer applies.

Under the new amendments relating to official marks, a simple and efficient mechanism will be created for the Registrar to “give public notice that the provision related to official marks does not apply with respect to a particular mark in circumstances where the mark holder is not a public authority or has ceased to exist.” The Registrar may invoke this mechanism on their own initiative or by request from any person after payment of a prescribed fee. This new mechanism is intended to avoid onerous procedures before the Federal Court of Canada by trademark owners.

At the time of writing, CIPO has indicated that it would provide more information on April 1, 2025 about the new process for requesting the Registrar to give public notice that the prohibition to adopt or use official marks does not apply with respect to a particular mark. CIPO is also expected to publish the practice notice on the amendments relating to official marks on the same day.

Our Trademarks Group has released a detailed overview of the amendments concerning costs, confidentiality orders, and case management, which can be found here.

Summary By: Amy Ariganello