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patents and trade-marks are all governed byfederal legislation and thus the rightsassociated with them do not vary betweenprovinces and territories of Canada.Other intellectual property rights (includingtrade secrets and unregistered trade-marks)are known as “common law rights”, becausethey have evolved over time as a result ofcommon law court decisions but have notbeen codified in a statute like the Patent Actor the Copyright Act.TRADE-MARKSA trade-mark may be a word, symbol,slogan, design, sound or combination ofwords, designs, symbols, colours, or the“get-up” or unique shape of a package orproduct (or a combination of thesefeatures), used to distinguish the wares orservices of one person or organization fromthose of others in the marketplace.Trade-marks are important to any industrywhere products or services are significantlypromoted or advertised. Once peoplebecome familiar with a particular trademark,they associate a certain standard withproducts or services that are marketedunder that trade-mark. Trade-marks are anindication of source and represent not onlyactual wares and services, but also thereputation and goodwill of the producerswho own them.Trade Name vs. Trade-markA trade name is the name under which abusiness is conducted, whether it be one’sown name or the name of a corporation or apartnership or a name adopted for asegment of that business, such as a divisionof a company. A trade name can beregistered under the federal Trade-marksAct only if it is also used as a trade-mark,namely if it is used to identify wares orservices.Provincial legislation in Nova Scotia andNew Brunswick requires that any companythat operates its business under a tradename rather than under the name of theincorporated entity must register its tradename. In Prince Edward Island, companiesare not required to register their tradenames, but may do so if they wish. Before aname can be registered, a computerizedname search must be conducted. Namesthat closely resemble existing businessnames may not be registrable.Unlike the other three Atlantic provinces,Newfoundland and Labrador does not havea trade names registry. The only registry forbusiness names is the corporate registrymaintained by the Registry of CompaniesDivision of the Government ofNewfoundland and Labrador. A company’sregistered corporate name is notnecessarily the same as its trade name.Accordingly, in Newfoundland and Labradorthere is no way to know whether or not atrade name is being used by another party.It is advisable that businesses using a tradename register the name as a registeredtrade-mark if possible, as they otherwise runthe risk of a dispute arising over the rights tothe use of that trade name.Registered Trade-mark vs. UnregisteredTrade-markThere are two ways to obtain and maintaintrade-mark rights:Intellectual Property 77