How Much Does Brand Protection Cost in Canada?

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Published on 22 May 2019

Trademark legislation in Canada is on the cusp of a major overhaul. In this article, we shall delve into the costs of protecting trademarks (i.e., the costs of brand protection) in Canada.

The Canadian Economy

With a Gross Domestic Product ("GDP") of $1.65 Trillion in 2017, the Canadian economy is currently the tenth largest in the world by nominal GDP. Service industries, manufacturing industries, and natural resources industries are the three pillars that form the cornerstone of the economy. The natural resources owned by the country are estimated to be worth $33.2 trillion and include oil deposits, industry minerals, energy minerals, metals, and timber.

Further, with the world's longest coastline that stretches across 202,080 kilometers, the nation has the potential to be a leader in the race for unlocking the economic potential of oceans (i.e., the "blue economy"). As per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the value of the blue economy is on course to reach $3 trillion by 2030.

Trademark Legislation in Canada

Trademark filing and registration in Canada are governed by the Trade-marks Act and the Trade-marks Regulations.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office, headquartered in Quebec, is the statutory body that oversees the administration of the Trade-marks Act and the Trade-marks Regulations.

Trademark System in Canada

Trademark protection in Canada can only be obtained through a trademark application filed in Canada. The application may be filed directly in Canada or through the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which is an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO").

Further, in March 2019, Canada acceded to several international treaties, including the Madrid Protocol. All the treaties will enter into force on June 17, 2019.

Trademark Filings in Canada

In the year 2017, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office received more than 180,000 trademark applications, which corresponds to an approximately 20% year-over-year increase in the number of trademark applications. These figures are based on the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018 report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

How Much Does Trademark Protection Cost in Canada?

Let us now discuss the costs involved in filing a trademark application in Canada and, subsequently, getting it registered. Typically, there are two categories of costs involved: official fees and attorney charges.

Unlike in most other jurisdictions, the costs of trademark filing and registration in Canada are not dependent on the number of classes of goods and services under which the trademark application is filed. The current version of the 'International Classification of Goods and Services' (Nice Agreement Eleventh Edition – Version 2019) contains 34 classes for goods and 11 classes for services.

However, since September 28, 2015, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has been accepting trademark applications with goods and services which have been voluntarily classified according to the Nice Classification. Once the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks and the Madrid Protocol enter into force in Canada, the adoption of the Nice Classification will become obligatory.

A trademark registration is valid for fifteen years from the date of registration and is renewable for successive fifteen-year periods.

Let us consider a trademark application for a word mark with a single priority claim that is to be filed electronically in Canada. For such a scenario, the estimated costs of trademark protection, from filing through registration, add up to approximately US $1,580. As shown in Table 1, the costs are spread across the two different stages of the trademark process: Filing and Registration.

Trademark Filing Fees, Trademark Registration Fees, and 'Go Green' Incentives

The trademark filing costs are inclusive of the incentive offered by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for 'Going Green' (i.e., filing the trademark application electronically). The official trademark fees for the electronic filing of the trademark application are approximately US $190, while the official trademark fees for the non-electronic filing of the trademark application are approximately US $227.

Further, the trademark filing costs are also inclusive of the attorney charges for handling the priority claim and filing a Declaration of Use with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

The official trademark registration fees are approximately US $152.

Trademark Renewal Fees in Canada

As stated above, a trademark registration in Canada is valid for fifteen years from the date of registration and is renewable for successive fifteen-year periods. The official fees for the electronic renewal of a trademark registration are approximately US $265, while the official fees for the non-electronic renewal of a trademark registration are approximately US $303.

Upcoming Changes to the Trademark Legislation in Canada

On June 17, 2019, amendments to the Trade-marks Act will enter into force into Canada, nearly five years after receiving royal assent. The amendments are aimed at modernizing Canada's trademark regime, thereby bringing it in line with international standards.

Significant changes under the amendments include the elimination of the statutory requirement to file a Declaration of Use, expansion of the definition of a trademark, the introduction of divisional trademark applications, the elimination of the official trademark registration fee, the adoption of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services, and the introduction of fees on a 'per class' basis.

Further, the amendments are also aimed at fulfilling Canada's obligations under international Intellectual Property treaties, such as the Madrid System. The System is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization and facilitates the international filing and registration of trademarks in a centralized, cost-effective, and streamlined manner in over 100 countries. A trademark registered under the Madrid System is valid for ten years from the date of recordal of the mark in the International Register and can be renewed for successive ten-year periods.

The duration of a trademark registered in Canada after June 17, 2019, will be ten years from the date of registration, which is renewable for successive ten-year periods. For trademarks that are registered before June 17, 2019, the current duration of fifteen years from the date of registration will continue to be applicable.

Upcoming Changes to Official Trademark Fees in Canada

Once the amendments to the Trade-marks Act enter into force, the proposed changes to official fees will be implemented. The proposed approach, which is based on the triple objectives of reducing paperwork burden, granting trademarks in a timely fashion, and avoiding a two-tiered system, is to "merge the application and registration fees and to have one application fee payable at the onset of the registration process."

The official fee for filing a trademark application will be $330 CAD (approximately US $250) for the first class, with an additional fee of $100 CAD (approximately US $76)being applicable for each additional class beyond the first class.

The official fee for renewing a registered trademark will be $400 CAD (approximately US $303) for the first class, with an additional fee of $125 CAD (approximately US $95) being applicable for each additional class beyond the first class.

International Trademark Cost Calculators

Worried about keeping pace with the dynamic trademark costs landscape? The Global IP Estimator and the Portfolio Estimator – Trademarks are smart, robust, and state-of-the-art international Trademark cost calculators from the stables of Quantify IP, which greatly simplify the arduous and challenging task of Intellectual Property budgeting management. They offer what traditional Intellectual Property docketing software and trademark portfolio management software do not - they can instantly and accurately calculate the costs of worldwide protection for either a single patent, trademark, design, or utility model, or a portfolio of trademarks, respectively.

The experts at Quantify IP continuously revise the robust database to reflect the most current official Government fees and currency exchange rates for each country. Therefore, as soon as the official fee changes are effective in Canada, the corresponding changes will be implemented in the trademark cost calculators through an update.

The addition of Quantify IP's Intellectual Property Cost Calculators has empowered the decision-makers in many Fortune 500 companies and over 70% of the top 100 IP law firms in the U.S. to solve diverse challenges in managing Intellectual Property budgets. To see what our Intellectual Property portfolio software can do for you, email us at qipcontact@quantifyip.com or call us at +1-808-891-0099.


Venkatesh Viswanath (Senior Content Strategist, Quantify IP) contributed to this article.
Exchange Rate Used: 1 U.S. Dollar = 1.32 Canadian Dollars
Note: The estimates and fees depicted in this article are based on the Official Fee Schedule as of January 17, 2019