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COVID Considerations – Effective Brand Management during a Pandemic

Trademarks are a key part of brand management. In view of uncertainties caused by COVID-19, effective brand management involves care and stewardship of a business’ trademarks to at least maintain, and hopefully increase, brand value through positive customer engagement.

In a previous blog post, we wrote about how a stoppage in business activities may affect the validity and enforceability of a trademark. We included some practical tips on steps that could be taken to avoid such a loss of rights.

Other COVID considerations which may factor into management of your brand are discussed below.

Unprecedented. Unparallelled. Unheard-of. All of these adjectives, and more, have been used to describe the current situation the world is facing in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Another apt word is “extraordinary”. The concept of “extraordinary circumstances” has been relied upon in appropriate circumstances in the legal world to justify the seeking of extensions of time of various deadlines.

Trademarks practice is inherently deadline-oriented. Deadlines apply to many aspects of the filing and application process, the opposition process (whereby a third party can formally object to a trademark application becoming registered) and the court process (often used by trademark owners to enforce their rights). Deadlines also apply to proceedings in which trademark owners are asked to provide proof that their trademarks have been used in Canada in order to maintain their validity.

In the constantly-shifting landscape caused by the pandemic, the following protocols have been developed with respect to extensions of time and other relevant aspects of Canadian trademarks practice. Note that these protocols are constantly evolving, and the relevant websites should be checked frequently for the most current information.

As we approach International Women’s Day on March 8th, an interesting thought occurred to me: Why is Justice a woman?

The image of a woman wearing a blindfold and holding a set of scales is familiar in legal symbolism. Often referred to as Lady Justice, she can be seen in front of courthouses as an imposing statue, or embossed on a medallion or other background image.

But why is the embodiment of the concept of justice a woman?

As reported in an earlier blog post, Canada implemented the Madrid Protocol on June 17, 2019. The Madrid Protocol is a system which permits entities located in member countries to obtain “international” trademark registrations.