As reported in Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 360, on June 19, 2014, amendments to Canada’s Trademarks Act were passed into law. As a result of these amendments, on June 6, 2016, CIPO released consultation documents which includes the proposed trademark fee changes that will apply when the amendments come into force, and has set a deadline of July 5, 2016 for public comment.
The main proposal with respect to the trademark fee structure is to implement fees per classification of goods and services. Currently, Canada does not require classification of goods and services into specific categories. As such, trademark applicants can include an unlimited number of goods and services in a trademark application without any additional government fees, regardless of how broad the list of goods and services is. When the amendments are implemented, the goods and services will have to be categorized into one of 45 classes and the proposal by CIPO reflects fees per class of goods and services, both at filing and renewal.
The proposed new government fees for online trademark filing are $330 for one class of goods and services, and $100 per additional class. Current fees for filing and registration are $450 combined for application and registration, regardless of the number of classes. To avoid the proposed fees per class, charities and not-for-profits wishing to protect their brands in multiple classes should consider filing trademark applications now with a broad “wish list” of goods and services prior to the amendments being implemented.