AN ORDER TO CEASE USING A CORPORATE NAME: A

AN ORDER TO CEASE USING A CORPORATE NAME: A CONCURRENT
JURISDICTION
By
Catherine Bergeron*
LEGER ROBIC RICHARD, Lawyers,
ROBIC, Patent & Trademark Agents
Centre CDP Capital
1001 Square-Victoria - Bloc E – 8th Floor
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Z 2B7
Tel.: (514) 987 6242 - Fax: (514) 845 7874
[email protected] – www.robic.ca
9042-5703 Quebec Inc. v. 9089-6663 Quebec Inc. (2003), Quebec Superior
Court, No. 700-05-009674-007 (Courville J.)
This is a motion for a permanent injunction introduced by the Applicants in
order to prevent the Respondent from using the corporate name “Restaurant
L’Ancestral”.
Facts
The Applicants have been operating a restaurant since 1988 under the name
“Restaurant L’Ancestral”. Since 2000, the Respondent has been operating a
restaurant also called “Restaurant L’Ancestral”, approximately thirty
kilometres away from the Applicants’ restaurant. Based on their prior use of
the corporate name and on a likelihood of confusion between the two
enterprises, the Applicants immediately served a ceased and desist letter on
the Respondent ordering a change of its corporate name.
The Respondent proposed to settle the matter by adopting the name
“Restaurant La Maison L’Ancestral II”, but the Applicants remained of the
view that confusion was still highly likely to occur in the mind of the
consumers.
The Respondent claimed that the Applicants could not bring this case before
the Quebec Superior Court (which is the court of original general jurisdiction),
and that they were limited to administrative proceedings which could be
© LEGER ROBIC RICHARD / ROBIC, 2003.
* Of the law firm LEGER ROBIC RICHARD, g.p. and of the patent and trademark agency firm
ROBIC, g.p. Published in the World Trademark Law Reporter. Publication 293.006.
brought before the Inspector General of Financial Institutions in accordance
with the Act Respecting the Legal Publicity of Sole Proprietorships,
Partnerships and Legal Persons.
Quebec Superior Court’s decision
As to the concurrent administrative and judicial jurisdictions, Courville J. held
that the administrative recourses before the Inspector General of Financial
Institutions are not exclusive and do not preclude a party from simultaneously
seeking a motion for permanent injunction before the Quebec Superior
Court.
In the present case, the Court opined that the Applicants’ rights in their
image and reputation justified legal action.
With respect to the issue of likelihood of confusion, Courville J. also agreed
with the Applicants’ contention and concluded that there was a likelihood of
confusion between the two names at issue, taking into consideration all the
surrounding circumstances including the following : the Applicants had prior
rights in the name “Restaurant L’Ancestral” due to prior continuous use, the
two names are visually and phonetically similar, the Applicants have
acquired goodwill in same, the two restaurants are in proximity to one
another, and the parties’ clientele overlaps.
Therefore, the Quebec Superior Court granted the Applicants’ motion for
permanent injunction prohibiting use of the corporate names “Restaurant
L’Ancestral II” and “Restaurant La Maison L’Ancestral II”.
However, the Quebec Superior Court did not grant any damages inasmuch
as the Applicants did not demonstrate any monetary loss ensuing from the
Respondent activities.
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commerce voué depuis 1892 à la protection et à la valorisation de la
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diligente et audit; et ce, tant au Canada qu'ailleurs dans le monde. La
maîtrise des intangibles.
ROBIC, a group of lawyers and of patent and trademark agents dedicated
since 1892 to the protection and the valorization of all fields of intellectual
property: patents, industrial designs and utility patents; trademarks,
certification marks and indications of origin; copyright and entertainment law,
artists and performers, neighbouring rights; computer, software and
integrated circuits; biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and plant breeders;
trade secrets, know-how, competition and anti-trust; licensing, franchising and
technology transfers; e-commerce, distribution and business law; marketing,
publicity and labelling; prosecution litigation and arbitration; due diligence; in
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ROBIC, un groupe d'avocats et d'agents de brevets et de marques de
commerce voué depuis 1892 à la protection et à la valorisation de la propriété
intellectuelle dans tous les domaines: brevets, dessins industriels et modèles
utilitaires; marques de commerce, marques de certification et appellations
d'origine; droits d'auteur, propriété littéraire et artistique, droits voisins et de
l'artiste interprète; informatique, logiciels et circuits intégrés; biotechnologies,
pharmaceutiques et obtentions végétales; secrets de commerce, know-how et
concurrence; licences, franchises et transferts de technologies; commerce
électronique, distribution et droit des affaires; marquage, publicité et
étiquetage; poursuite, litige et arbitrage; vérification diligente et audit; et ce,
tant au Canada qu'ailleurs dans le monde. La maîtrise des intangibles.
ROBIC, a group of lawyers and of patent and trademark agents dedicated
since 1892 to the protection and the valorization of all fields of intellectual
property: patents, industrial designs and utility patents; trademarks,
certification marks and indications of origin; copyright and entertainment law,
artists and performers, neighbouring rights; computer, software and integrated
circuits; biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and plant breeders; trade secrets,
know-how, competition and anti-trust; licensing, franchising and technology
transfers; e-commerce, distribution and business law; marketing, publicity and
labelling; prosecution litigation and arbitration; due diligence; in Canada and
throughout the world. Ideas live here.