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.
