Should You Register Your Business Logo in Canada?

A business logo can set a company apart from its competitor. Logos are designed to bring recognition, not only to the business but to the owners of the business. In short, customers are searching for quality services and honest professionals in whom they can trust and form a relationship. Trust can be difficult to obtain, especially when many fly-by-night businesses are constantly popping up.

Carefully choosing a logo to represent your company can be painstaking and building into a recognizable mark can be time consuming and expensive. Taking proactive steps to protect this asset with a trademark registration can help to prevent issues of unauthorized use or competitors registering similar trademarks.

Registering Your Trademark

A registered trademark is granted to a business entity or individual. When filing a trademark application, it is important to clearly identify the goods and services that will be used in association with the trademark being filed. Once these goods and services have been identified, they need to be placed into one of 45 predetermined classes. These classes are based upon the Nice Agreement which is an international treaty. After an application is filed, a government Trademark Examiner reviews the application to determine if it meets all of the requirements for registration. If the Examiner has concerns, they issue an Examiner's Report that sets out the reasons for refusal or objection and provides an applicant (or their agent) to respond to the concerns. If the response corrects the issues described in the Examiner's Report, the application is approved and published in the Trademarks Journal for opposition purposes. If there is no opposition, the trademark is registered.

Any brand identifier can be registered as a trademark, including names, logos, scents, sounds, holograms and others. An example of a sound mark is the MGM roaring line. Protecting your brand through the use of strategically filed trademarks can be incredibly beneficial.

Have questions about applying for a trademark? Contact our trademark agents in Edmonton now for a free consultation by clicking here.