Lassonde (A.) Inc. v. Registraire des marques de commerce, (2001) 281 N.R. 365 (FCA)

• Judge: Décary, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A.
• Court: Federal Court of Appeal (Canada)
• Case Date: June 19, 2001
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2001), 281 N.R. 365 (FCA);2001 FCA 207

Lassonde Inc. v. Reg. of TM (2001), 281 N.R. 365 (FCA)

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Temp. Cite: [2001] N.R. TBEd. JL.046

A. Lassonde Inc. (appelante) v. Le Registraire des Marques de commerce (intimé)

(A-107-00; 2001 FCA 207)

Indexed As: Lassonde (A.) Inc. v. Registraire des marques de commerce

Federal Court of Appeal

Décary, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A.

June 19, 2001.

Summary:

An applicant applied to register the trade­mark "Bananorange" on the basis of use in Canada since June 13, 1998, in association with the general category of wares including fruit juices and non-alcoholic fruit drinks. The Registrar of Trademarks denied regis­tration on the basis that "Bananorange" was descriptive of the character or quality of the wares or services in association with which it was used (Trade-Marks Act, s. 12(1)(b)). The applicant appealed.

The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Divi­sion, in a decision reported at 180 F.T.R. 177, dismissed the appeal. The applicant appealed.

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Trademarks, Names and Designs - Topic 261

Trademarks - What trademarks registrable - Prohibition - Marks which are descrip­tive of the product - An applicant applied to register the trademark "Bananorange" on the basis of use in Canada since June 13, 1998, in association with the general cat­egory of wares including fruit juices and non-alcoholic fruit drinks - The Registrar of Trademarks denied registration on the basis that "Bananorange" was descriptive of the character or quality of the wares or services in association with which it was used (Trade-Marks Act, s. 12(1)(b)) - The Registrar held that "Bananorange" was the phonetic equivalent of "banana" " orange" and the fact that it was written differently did not make it less descriptive - The Registrar denied a disclaimer under s. 35 respecting the use of the words "banana" and "orange" where "bananorange" in its entirety was not registrable - The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal.

Counsel:

Bruno Barrette, for the appellant;

Johanne Boudreau, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Brouillette Charpentier Fortin, Montreal, Quebec, for the appellant;

Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Attorney Gen­eral of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard at Montreal, Que­bec, on June 19, 2001, by Décary, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A., of the Federal Court of Appeal. Noël, J.A., delivered the following oral reasons for judgment of the court on the same date.