Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 59 in dissecting the plant and creating new formulations." Pascal Archambault, a business law practitioner with expertise in intellectual property at Langlois in Montreal, says, "We expect a surge in patent and breed- ers' rights applications." Currently, on the Canadian Patents Database, there are two active breeders' rights granted for hemp, three pending and two for marijuana (pending), all dated 2018. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office currently has more than 500 trade- mark applications pending for cannabis, says Mylany David, head of the cannabis group at Langlois. "This is truly giving us an idea of what's happening in the industry." Trademarks and trade secrets Under Canada's new regime, branding, packaging and advertising of cannabis are severely restricted, like those for tobacco, prescription drugs and alcoholic bever- ages. Every product label must include a standardized cannabis symbol with a specified size, appearance and placement. Mandatory health warning messages and THC content are required on packaging, and images or graphics besides the brand name and logo are prohibited. Packaging must be plain, with a background of a flat uniform colour. Still, says Marles, cannabis companies will want to distinguish their brands from others. "Cannabis regulations limit how you can market and advertise cannabis products in Canada at present . . . but trademarks will still be important" as con- sumers must distinguish the brands. She also predicts "a lot of online advertising." Indeed, IP and trademarks will con- tinue to be more relevant than ever, says David. "Considering the number of appli- cations that are increasing [for companies] to be licensed producers of cannabis, yes, we expect more trademarks to be regis- tered." Given the restrictions on advertis- ing, cannabis producers will also rely on brand preference, adds her colleague Archambault. "Brand preference pro- motion is one of the types [of advertis- ing] that's allowed." Many businesses also rely on trade secrets to protect their intellectual prop- erty, Archambault notes. Strict confi- dentiality guidelines will be required in a company, especially those involved with dosage formulations, for example. As well, Canada's Trade-marks Act will undergo substantial changes in the next two years. The revised legisla- tion will eliminate the need to include filing grounds in an application. So, whether an applicant has used a trade- mark or intends to use it will no longer matter, and the applicant will no longer need to declare that they are using the trademark in Canada to achieve regis- tration of a mark. These impending changes mean that people will be able to file broad applica- tions that cover a vast array of products, whether they use the trademarks or not. "It opens up the possibility of more trolls in Canada, guessing what compa- L E G A L R E P O R T Bright minds protecting bright ideas since 1893 Ranked as one of Canada's top IP law firms in both Canadian and international surveys of in-house counsel, we understand the business of innovation and the vital role that IP plays in today's competitive, market-driven economy. ridoutmaybee.com TORONTO | OTTAWA | BURLINGTON PATENTS | TRADEMARKS | INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS | COPYRIGHT | IP LITIGATION ntitled-3 1 2018-12-12 2:44 PM

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