Proposal to Repeal the Timber Marking Act and Rules - 1 of 3

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Background

Included in CIPO's Business Plan for 2009-2010 was the commitment to work on the intellectual property (IP) administrative framework as one of its five strategic directions. The ultimate goal of this work is a strong, modern and internationally competitive IP framework that fosters and promotes Canadian innovation and the protection of IP rights for Canadian businesses.

The Timber Marking Act and Rules is one of several IP laws administered by CIPO and is under the responsibility of the Copyright and Industrial Design Branch (CID). The timber mark registration system comprises the receipt and processing of timber mark applications and assignments, and the maintenance of the Timber Mark Register. The Register includes approximately 2200 timber marks registered from 1870 to 1990. There have been no new filings in 19 years and only seven registrations in the past 25 years. Given this inactivity, CID decided to review the legislation, conduct research on industry practices and consult informally with stakeholders to determine its relevance to Canadian industry.

Timber Marking Act

This little-known IP statute was enacted in 1870 and has not been amended since 1932. It applies only to the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, where the forestry industry was concentrated in the early days of confederation. This legislation was conceived to provide logging companies with a means of proving ownership of their timber when floated to mills on inland waters. Specifically, section 3 of the Timber Marking Act imposes a requirement on all persons who float timber to select a mark or marks and register them under the Act (section 13 further imposes a penalty fee for non-compliance).

3. Every person engaged in the business of lumbering or getting out timber, and floating or rafting timber on the inland waters of Canada within the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, shall, within one month after he engages therein, select a mark or marks and cause such mark or marks to be registered in the manner provided in this Act.

Section 4 of the Act requires the Minister to keep a register of timber marks.

4. (1) The Minister shall keep a book to be called the Timber Mark Register, in which any person engaged in the business of lumbering or getting out timber may have his timber mark registered on depositing with the Minister a drawing or an impression and description in duplicate of the timber mark, together with a declaration that the timber mark is not and was not in use, to his knowledge, by any person other than himself at the time of his adoption thereof.

Under the Act, the protection for a registered timber mark does not expire. In order to remove a timber mark from the Register, an owner must cancel the registration or the Federal Court must order it expunged from the Register. In order to cease the registration of timber marks and/or existing rights, an amendment or repeal of the Act is necessary.

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