Archive for March, 2007
« Older Entries |The Olympic Trademark Debate Continues
Friday, March 30th, 2007
The Vancouver Sun has followed up yesterday’s article regarding official marks with an article today (Friday, March 30, 2007) regarding the proposed legislation now before the Canadian Parliament. The Sun also includes an editorial referring to the legislation as “overkill”. We previously commented on the basic elements of the legislation.
Posted in Branding, Protection & Enforcement | 1 Comment »
Trying to Make Sense of Olympic Trademarks
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
The front page of the Vancouver Sun today (Thursday, March 29, 2007) features an interesting article on the official marks registered by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Games (“VANOC”) and the Canadian Olympic Committee. The article notes that VANOC has rights to FRIEND as an official mark and could potentially bring legal proceedings if someone attempts to use it in connection with a business.
According to VANOC, they have no intention of preventing the use of words like “friend” on their own. They are, however, concerned about ambush marketing in the lead up to the 2010 Olympic Games and intend to prevent persons who are not properly licensed from marketing wares and services that suggest a connection with the Games.
It may be up to the courts to determine whether ordinary words like “friend” can be official marks. The Vancouver Sun article references an Alberta case (Canadian Olympic Association v. Hipson) that arose in the lead up to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics in which the court questioned the Association’s right to claim “winter” and “1988″ as official marks.
What the Vancouver Sun article does not discuss is the proposed legislation now before Parliament which we discussed in an earlier blog and which, if enacted, will extend the power of VANOC even further.
Posted in Branding, Protection & Enforcement | 7 Comments »
Competition and Real Estate
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
As an update to an earlier post, the Canadian Competition Bureau has obtained an order from the Federal Court of Canada requiring the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to produce documents and answer questions. The Competition Bureau is investigating whether CREA’s decision to change the rules governing use of the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) by real estate agents is anti-competitive.
Currently, according to CREA, there are three “pillars” for a listing to qualify for the MLS Service: the listing must include some offer of compensation between Realtors; continuous agency relationship during the terms of the MLS listing; and accuracy of information.
While CREA maintains that it needs to tighten the rules to protect its MLS trade-mark, discount real estate agents (many operating online) claim that CREA is trying to cut them out of the MLS. According to a news report, an affidavit submitted in support of the Competition Bureau’s application for the court order states that about 90 per cent of residential real estate transactions in Canada involve the MLS system.
Posted in Protection & Enforcement | No Comments »