Someone is using my business name. What can I do?
The legal difference between a registered trademark, a corporate name, and a trade name, and which one actually stops a copycat from using your name.
Topic
Trademarks
Plain-language answers on trademarks, written from primary sources.
Answers
Does registering my business name give me exclusive rights to it?
What business name registration actually protects in Ontario and Alberta, why lawsuits still happen anyway, and how trademarks differ.
How do I license my intellectual property to someone else?
The steps to licensing IP in Canada, why the writing requirement trips people up, and how licensing a trademark differs from copyright or patents.
What's the legal difference between a business name, a domain name, and a trademark?
Why registering a business name creates no ownership, and what actually separates a name, a domain, and a trademark in Canada.
How do I trademark my business name in Canada?
Why a business name registration is not a trademark, searching the database, the confusion test, filing with CIPO, and examination.