La confusion … à la québécoise

Abstract:

The importance that is increasingly given to the problem of trademark confusion and the resulting complexity of the issue can sometimes be misleading. From this perspective, and following the Supreme Court’s most recent decision in the Masterpiece case, we paint a comprehensive picture of the legal mechanisms designed to prevent confusion between trademarks and trade names. After presenting a complete yet concise description of the federal provision under the Trademarks Act, we deal with the specific protection provided in Quebec. Further, we focus on analyzing and explaining the legal and regulatory framework at both the federal and provincial levels as well as on basic confusion-prevention concepts and the jurisprudential criteria used to interpret these ideas. We thus provide a comprehensive, in-depth, and accurate picture of the rules respecting the prevention of confusion between trademarks and trade names.