Trade-Marks Examination Manual (page 32 of 55)
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IV.5 Reference Sources
To fully satisfy themselves on the question of descriptiveness or misdescriptiveness, examiners must be prepared to make liberal use of the reference sources available to them. These sources can also be used to help settle various questions which arise concerning a mark's registrability. They include various trade-mark text books, The Canadian Patent Reporter, The Supreme Court Reports, and The Federal Court Reports, all of which are useful as "precedent" sources. In addition, a fairly extensive collection of language and trade-term reference works is listed below:
International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
Canadian Intellectual Property Review
Plant Varieties Denominations
Canada Phone
Various Telephone Directories
Vancouver City Directory
Halifax City Directory
Toronto City Directory
Ottawa City Directory
Grolier Encyclopedia
International Encyclopedia Information Finder
Nouvelle encyclopédie Larousse
Encyclopedia International
What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World
Random House Webster's
Heritage Dictionary
Oxford Dictionary
Oxford Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's Third New International Dictionary
American Slang
Le Robert
Le Petit Robert II
Le Robert Dictionnaire Québécois d'Aujourd'hui
Dictionnaire de la langue Québécoise
Dictionnaire général de la langue française au Canada
Harrap's Shorter French and English Dictionary
Harrap's New Standard French and English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Oxford français-anglais, anglais-français
Cassell's Italian-English Dictionary, Cassell's German-English Dictionary, Cassell's Spanish-
English Dictionary
German-French Dictionary, Italian-French Dictionary (Garnier)
Howarth & Smith's Primer for Typography
1500 prénoms et leur signification
20,001 Names for Baby
The Condensed Chemical Dictionary (Van Nostrand Reinhold Company)
Chemical Synonyms and Trade Names (Gardner)
Hackh's Chemical Dictionary
Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary
The Merck Index and Encyclopedia of Chemicals and Drugs
Common Names for Pest Control Chemicals
Pharmacopeia of the United States
Dorland's Medical Dictionary
Encyclopédie Médicale (Quillet)
Glossary of Insurance Terms
Modern Laboratory Appliances
Pratt & Whitney Gages
Schott Guide to Glass
Kimble Products Glass and Plastic Laboratory Ware
The Dictionary of Paper
Dictionary of Paper (American Pulp & Paper Association)
Pulp & Paper Dictionary of Canada
Canadian Gypsum - manuel de construction en planches de gypse
Vocabulaire de tournage du bois (French-English)
Vocabulaire de ponçage du bois (French-English)
Vocabulaire des panneaux dérivés du bois (English-French)
Fairchilds Dictionary of Textiles
The Modern Textile Dictionary (Linton)
The Modern Textile and Apparel Dictionary
International Glossary of Leather Terms (International Council of Tanners)
Vocabulaire de l'habillement (English-French)
Vocabulaire du tricot chaîne (English-French)
Lexique de l'industrie de la boulangerie (English-French)
Lexique de l'industrie laitière (English-French)
Dictionnaire des fromages (Larousse)
La Cuisine: The Complete Book of French Cooking
Encyclopedia of Food & Cookery
New Cheese Diet
Cheese Varieties
German Wine Atlas and Vineyard Register
The Doubleday 1983 Wine Companion
Grober Deutscher Weinatlas
Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits
Alexis Lichine encyclopédie des vins et des alcools
Grossman's Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits
Layman's Dictionary of Computer Terminology (Sondak)
Electronic Computer Glossary (Freedman)
Illustrated Dictionary of Microcomputers
Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary
Fritz Spiegl's Encyclopedia of Computer Science
Illustrated Dictionary of Microcomputer Terminology
Terminologie de l'informatique
Dictionnaire de l'informatique (Larousse)
Dictionnaire de l'informatique anglais-français
IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electronics and Electrical Terms
Collins Gem Flags
Inn List
Webster's New World Collegiate Dictionary
Prentice Hall's Illustrated Dictionary of Computing (second edition)
The Internet Dictionary (The essential guide to Netspeak)
Vocabulaire d'Internet
Microsoft Bookshelf
IV.6 Paragraph 12(1)(c) — Name of Wares or Services
IV.6.1 Reasons for Paragraph 12(1)(c)
The name of the wares or services in any language is not a registrable trade-mark for the obvious reason that it could not function to distinguish wares or services of one person from identical wares or services produced by other persons.
IV.6.2 Interpreting and Applying Provisions
When examiners are faced with text in a language other than English or French and the language dictionaries are not adequate, they must request a translation to satisfy themselves that the material does not contravene paragraph 12(1)(c). Translation enquiries are generally directed to the applicant, although it may be necessary to
Should the translation indicate that the entire mark is the name of the wares or services, then a paragraph 12(1)(c) objection must be raised. If only a portion of the mark is the name of the wares or services, then that portion must be disclaimed. The disclaimer statement must indicate that the matter in question constitutes the name of the wares or services and must stipulate the language used, if other than French or English. If the offending portion is not essential to the performance of the mark, it may be removed entirely by submitting a revised application or revised drawings, Rule 31(b).
The combination of a registrable word and the name of the wares or services to form a compound word is acceptable. A disclaimer of the portion of the compound word which is the name of the wares or services in any language will not be required if the compound word is hyphenated.
A trade-mark which is the name of the wares or services cannot become registrable on a showing of acquired distinctiveness.