The system for trademark protection in Canada includes:

• Registration
• Common law, an unregistered trademark can be protected through the tort of passing-off
• Coexisting rights under registration and common law

Canada belongs to the following international treaties:

• Paris Convention
• Madrid Protocol
• Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
• Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks

The benefits of registering a trademark in Canada include:

• It entitles the proprietor to bring an infringement action
• Other: Registration offers a broader scope of protection, there are statutory remedies for registered trademarks, it allows you to secure your right to use the trademark, it has a lower cost of enforcement

Service marks

Yes

Defensive marks

Yes

Collective marks

No

Certification marks

Yes

Well-known marks

No

Series marks

No

Marks in a different language or characters other than Roman characters

Yes

Non-traditional marks: Sound marksYes.Non-traditional marks: Smell marks

Yes

Non-traditional marks: Position marks

Yes

Non-traditional marks: Color marks (i.e. registration of a single color or a combination of colors, e.g. Cadbury's purple color)

Yes

Non-traditional marks: Shape or three-dimensional marks

Yes

Other

Yes

Documents and information required to file a trademark application in Canada include:

• Name and address of the applicant
• Representation of the trademark
• Goods and services and the class(es) for which the trademark is to be registered

Yes, multi-class applications are permitted in Canada. There is no maximum number of classes, but there is a cost of $100 per additional class (the first class is $330). 

Yes, there is substantive examination of trademarks in Canada. 

Absolute grounds for refusal of a trademark in Canada include:

• Mark is not distinctive
• Other: Mark is deceptively misleading; the mark is the word for the good or service in another language; the mark is identical to or likely to be mistaken for an official mark. 

Relative grounds for refusal of a trademark in Canada include:

• There is a prior application for registration or registration for an identical or confusingly similar mark in relation to the same goods or services as the subject mark
• There is a prior application for registration or registration for an identical or confusingly similar mark in relation to similar goods or services (although in a different class) as the subject mark

The time period from application to registration in Canada is 18 months or longer. 

Yes, late renewal of trademark registration is permissible in Canada. 

Yes, evidence of use needs to be submitted to the trademark office in order to maintain an application for registration or a registration of a trademark in Canada. This should be provided during a Section 45 expungement proceeding. 

No, trademark licensees are not required to record themselves with the Registrar in Canada, however, it is recommended. 

Available enforcement methods in Canada include:

• Civil enforcement
  • Infringement action
  • Passing off
• Administrative enforcement 
• Border or other administrative enforcement measures

None identified.