Trade-marks Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. T-13)

Marginal note:Prohibited adoption of indication for spirits

• 11.15 (1) No person shall adopt in connection with a business, as a trade-mark or otherwise,

  • (a) a protected geographical indication identifying a spirit in respect of a spirit not originating in the territory indicated by the protected geographical indication; or

  • (b) a translation in any language of the geographical indication in respect of that spirit.

• Marginal note:Prohibited use

  (2) No person shall use in connection with a business, as a trade-mark or otherwise,

  • (a) a protected geographical indication identifying a spirit in respect of a spirit not originating in the territory indicated by the protected geographical indication or adopted contrary to subsection (1); or

  • (b) a translation in any language of the geographical indication in respect of that spirit.

Marginal note:Exception for personal names

• 11.16 (1) Sections 11.14 and 11.15 do not prevent a person from using, in the course of trade, that person’s name or the name of the person’s predecessor-in-title, except where the name is used in such a manner as to mislead the public.

• Marginal note:Exception for comparative advertising

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), sections 11.14 and 11.15 do not prevent a person from using a protected geographical indication in comparative advertising in respect of a wine or spirit.

• Marginal note:Exception not applicable to packaging

  (3) Subsection (2) does not apply to comparative advertising on labels or packaging associated with a wine or spirit.

Marginal note:Continued use

• 11.17 (1) Where a Canadian has used a protected geographical indication in a continuous manner in relation to any business or commercial activity in respect of goods or services

  • (a) in good faith before April 15, 1994, or

  • (b) for at least ten years before that date,

  section 11.14 or 11.15, as the case may be, does not apply to any continued or similar use by that Canadian.

• Definition of “Canadian”

  (2) For the purposes of this section, “Canadian” includes

  • (a) a Canadian citizen;

  • (b) a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act who has been ordinarily resident in Canada for not more than one year after the time at which the permanent resident first became eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship; and

  • (c) an entity that carries on business in Canada.