and 2019 to make it possible for a business to apply for a trademark without demonstrating that it had ever used it. At the time, the legal community warned it could facilitate the practice of trademark squatting – registering a name with the intention of holding on to it so someone else can’t, possibly with plans to sell it later on. A few years later, some experts say those warnings have been proven prescient.
However, Prof. Tawfik said reducing the initial red tape has shifted more work to applicants and the legal system. As part of the government’s reforms – and in response to the legal community’s concerns – Ottawa added a new criterion for challenges: that the application was made in “bad faith.” But other cases may not always be so clear-cut, Prof. Tawfik said, explaining that a company registering a trademark in Canada that has the same name as a company in another country doesn’t prove wrongdoing on its own.
The company said it started applying for dozens more during the pandemic because it intended to shift to a business model in which it would license brands to other restaurants for use on food-delivery apps. Many of the trademarks have the same or similar names as establishments in other countries.