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

Marginal note:Prohibited marks

• 9 (1) No person shall adopt in connection with a business, as a trademark or otherwise, any mark consisting of, or so nearly resembling as to be likely to be mistaken for,

  • (a) the Royal Arms, Crest or Standard;

  • (b) the arms or crest of any member of the Royal Family;

  • (c) the standard, arms or crest of His Excellency the Governor General;

  • (d) any word or symbol likely to lead to the belief that the goods or services in association with which it is used have received, or are produced, sold or performed under, royal, vice-regal or governmental patronage, approval or authority;

  • (e) the arms, crest or flag adopted and used at any time by Canada or by any province or municipal corporation in Canada in respect of which the Registrar has, at the request of the Government of Canada or of the province or municipal corporation concerned, given public notice of its adoption and use;

  • (f) the emblem of the Red Cross on a white ground, formed by reversing the federal colours of Switzerland and retained by the Geneva Convention for the Protection of War Victims of 1949 as the emblem and distinctive sign of the Medical Service of armed forces and used by the Canadian Red Cross Society, or the expression “Red Cross” or “Geneva Cross”;

  • (g) the emblem of the Red Crescent on a white ground adopted for the same purpose as specified in paragraph (f);

  • (g.1) the third Protocol emblem — commonly known as the “Red Crystal” — referred to in Article 2, paragraph 2 of Schedule VII to the Geneva Conventions Act and composed of a red frame in the shape of a square on edge on a white ground, adopted for the same purpose as specified in paragraph (f);

  • (h) the equivalent sign of the Red Lion and Sun used by Iran for the same purpose as specified in paragraph (f);

  • (h.1) the international distinctive sign of civil defence (equilateral blue triangle on an orange ground) referred to in Article 66, paragraph 4 of Schedule V to the Geneva Conventions Act;

  • (i) any territorial or civic flag or any national, territorial or civic arms, crest or emblem, of a country of the Union, if the flag, arms, crest or emblem is on a list communicated under article 6^ter of the Convention or pursuant to the obligations under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights set out in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement stemming from that article, and the Registrar gives public notice of the communication;

  • (i.1) any official sign or hallmark indicating control or warranty adopted by a country of the Union, if the sign or hallmark is on a list communicated under article 6^ter of the Convention or pursuant to the obligations under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights set out in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement stemming from that article, and the Registrar gives public notice of the communication;

  • (i.2) any national flag of a country of the Union;

  • (i.3) any armorial bearing, flag or other emblem, or the name or any abbreviation of the name, of an international intergovernmental organization, if the armorial bearing, flag, emblem, name or abbreviation is on a list communicated under article 6^ter of the Convention or pursuant to the obligations under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights set out in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement stemming from that article, and the Registrar gives public notice of the communication;

  • (j) any scandalous, obscene or immoral word or device;

  • (k) any matter that may falsely suggest a connection with any living individual;

  • (l) the portrait or signature of any individual who is living or has died within the preceding thirty years;

  • (m) the words “United Nations” or the official seal or emblem of the United Nations;

  • (n) any badge, crest, emblem or mark

    • (i) adopted or used by any of Her Majesty’s Forces as defined in the National Defence Act,

    • (ii) of any university, or

    • (iii) adopted and used by any public authority, in Canada as an official mark for goods or services,

    in respect of which the Registrar has, at the request of Her Majesty or of the university or public authority, as the case may be, given public notice of its adoption and use;

  • (n.1) any armorial bearings granted, recorded or approved for use by a recipient pursuant to the prerogative powers of Her Majesty as exercised by the Governor General in respect of the granting of armorial bearings, if the Registrar has, at the request of the Governor General, given public notice of the grant, recording or approval; or

  • (o) the name “Royal Canadian Mounted Police” or “R.C.M.P.” or any other combination of letters relating to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or any pictorial representation of a uniformed member thereof.

• Marginal note:Excepted uses

  (2) Nothing in this section prevents the adoption, use or registration as a trademark or otherwise, in connection with a business, of any mark

  • (a) described in subsection (1) with the consent of Her Majesty or such other person, society, authority or organization as may be considered to have been intended to be protected by this section; or

  • (b) consisting of, or so nearly resembling as to be likely to be mistaken for

    • (i) an official sign or hallmark mentioned in paragraph (1)(i.1), except in respect of goods that are the same or similar to the goods in respect of which the official sign or hallmark has been adopted, or

    • (ii) an armorial bearing, flag, emblem, name or abbreviation mentioned in paragraph (1)(i.3), unless the use of the mark is likely to mislead the public as to a connection between the user and the organization.