Industry committee  There is a Trade-marks Journal that's electronic now. It's a weekly electronic publication where any approved application is advertised. So that happens once a week and there are updates. So the commercial searchers all get these updates from the Intellectual Property Office so t

Industry committee  The other complication, too, is that there's something called the Paris convention, which Canada already belongs to, as does most of the world. So an application could be filed in a foreign country like the U.S., and that applicant has six months to file in Canada and have the Ca

Industry committee  If I may add to that, though, again, at the moment, if a trademark has been used already—and a good number of them are before someone files an application—there is a requirement to state that in the application itself. It also technically is a declaration, but it can be stated in

Industry committee  Yes. If I may, first, it's the database. It's okay for finding the exact market interest. It will not necessarily locate phonetic similarities, marks that have a similar idea or connotation, all of which can prevent the registration of a trademark. So that's a difficulty with the

Industry committee  I have some understanding of why the government is doing what it's doing. I've practised long enough, been involved with liaison committees with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, etc., attended meetings where representatives of government have been present at the World I

Industry committee  No, and I say no because, for most of our clients—and I am in private practice—where they look to next after Canada to protect their marks is the United States.

Industry committee  The fees attached to a declaration of use are so minimal, really, in contrast to what businesses are going to face in terms of litigation, opposition, etc.

Industry committee  I would just add that really almost every business has trademarks to some degree. Retail businesses tend to have a lot of them and so if I'm answering a little bit more directly, I would say retail businesses feel probably the greatest impact from this.

Industry committee  Yes, that certainly is a real risk.

Industry committee  That's my understanding. I haven't received any specifics, but I have been informed that is occurring.

Industry committee  You know what? I just don't know what stage they are at in their deliberations about this.

Industry committee  At the moment, that's correct, yes.

Industry committee  Yes, that is a possibility as well. Again, it's just my understanding that they are reconsidering.

Industry committee  No, the European Union has its own system, so it is possible to obtain what's called a community trademark registration. That is different from the Madrid filing system.

Industry committee  No, that's right.