IP/N/1/CAN/7  
IP/N/1/CAN/T/3  
 
22 April 2015  
(15-2108)  Page: 1/2  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English/French  
 
 NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
CANADA: TRADEMARKS ACT 
Notifying Member C ANADA  
 
Details of the notified legal text  
Title  
 Trademarks Act 
Subject matter Trademarks 
Nature of 
notification  Main dedicated intellectual property law or regulation 
  Other law or regulation 
 
Link to legal text https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2015/IP/CAN/15_1060_00_e.pdf 
 
Notification status  First notification 
 Amendment or revision to notified legal text 
 Replacement or consolidation of notified legal text(s) 
 
Previous 
notification(s) 
referred to IP/N/1/CAN/T/1 
"https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S006.aspx?DataSource
=Cat&query=@SymbolMatc h=IP/N/1/CAN/T/1&Language=English&Context
=ScriptedSearches&languageUIChanged=true# " 
 
IP/N/1/CAN/T/1/Add.1 "https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S006.aspx?DataSource
=Cat&query=@SymbolMatc h=IP/N/1/CAN/T/1/Add.1&Language=English&C
ontext=ScriptedSearches&languageUIChanged=true# " 
 
Brief description of the notified legal text  
 
Trade-Marks Act as amended by Bill C-31 , An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget 
tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures  (the bill having received Royal 
Assent on June 19, 2014 with the majority of the changes to enter into force at a later date).  
 
 Bill C-31  amends the Trade-Marks Act. These amendments allow Canada to accede to three 
trademark treaties: Madrid Protocol, Singapore Tr eaty and the Nice Agreement. The amendments 
to Bill C-31 include a number of provisions that are consistent with these three treaties and aim to 
align Canada's trademark regime with international best practices, streamline procedures, and 
reduce the costs of doing business. The coming-into-force date will be determined after the Trade-
mark Regulations  have been revised, and relevant IT systems have been updated. The coming into 
force date of the changes will be established in the new Trade-Marks Regulations, which are 
currently being drafted.  
(See also Other information below)  IP/N/1/CAN/7 • IP/N/1/CAN/T/3 
 
- 2 - 
 
  Trade-Marks Act as amended by Bill C-8 , An Act to amend the Copyright Act and the Trade-
marks Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts  (the bill having received Royal 
Assent on December 9, 2014).  
 
 Bill C-8  amends the Trade-marks Act and the Copyright Act . The bill aims to reduce trade in 
counterfeit goods sold to Canadian consumers and businesses by providing new enforcement tools. 
The amendments made by the bill enact new border enforcement measures and create new civil 
causes of action and criminal offences.  
 
 Bill C-8  amends the Trade-marks Act  to, among other things, expand the scope of what can 
be registered as a trade-mark and to allow the Registrar of Trade-marks to correct errors that 
appear in the trade-mark register, as well as to streamline and modernize the trade-mark 
application and opposition process. The bill also amends the definition of what constitutes a criminal 
offence under the Copyright Act  and makes minor amendments to the Criminal Code  and the 
Customs Act.   
(See also Other information below) 
 
Language(s) of notified text English and French 
Date of adoption 19 June 2014 (Bill C/31) and 9 December 2014 (Bill C-8) – see above  
Entry into force On days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council 
 
Notification details 
 
Submission date 
of notification  23 January 2015 
Other information  
 Bill C-31  amending the Trade-Marks Act . 
"http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublicatio ns/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mo
de=1&DocId=6684616 " 
Bill C-8  amending the Trade-marks Act and the Copyright Act .  
"http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublicatio ns/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mo
de=1&DocId=6830555 " 
 
Agency or 
authority 
responsible Industry Canada 
Copyright and Trade-mark Policy Directorate 
 
235 Queen Street 
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0H5 
Canada 
Telephone:   343-291-2703 
Fax:    343-291-2494