Québec’s Bill 96 and impact on trademarks
Bill 96 introduces new restrictions on the use of English and other non-French trademarks in signs, posters, labels, packaging and commercial advertising.
Previously, all recognized trademarks under Canadian legislation, including common-law trademarks, registered trademarks and trademarks pending registration, could be publicly displayed in any language as long as French was sufficiently present; however, this will change in 12 months.
As of June 1, 2025, several restrictions will apply to English and other non-French trademarks used in Québec. All used trademarks must be registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) or otherwise translated and used in French in Québec.
Although there have been supporting draft regulations advising how Bill 96 will be interpreted and applied, there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the new legislation and its implementation in practice. The Draft Regulation , which provides more certainty on the interpretation of the law, is expected to be passed this summer.
How trademark owners should prepare:
Bill 96 specifies that if you are using trademarks in a language other than French in Canada, including Québec, these trademarks would have to qualify as "Registered" with the CIPO. The Draft Regulation clarifies that all "pending applications" will also qualify, taking into account the CIPO's long turnaround times to obtain a registration. Otherwise, unregistered trademarks used in Québec will have to be translated and used in the French language.
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Note that if a trademark has a registered French equivalent, then that French equivalent must always be used regardless of whether there is a registration for the English mark. As such, caution should be taken when deciding whether to register a French version of a trademark.
French-language elements must be at least twice the size of any non-French components on store signage.
According to Bill 96, if a registered trademark contains a generic or descriptive term in another language, that generic or descriptive term must appear in French by the grace period's conclusion on June 1, 2027. Under Canadian (Federal) packaging laws, a product's common or generic name or function must appear on the product package or label in both official languages, i.e., English and French, irrespective of any trademark that may also appear on the package or label.
Effectively, the Government of Québec has released an infographic that suggests that primary, English-only registered trademarks, even those that contain generic terms or product descriptions, will not need translation. For instance, the proposed trademark "BestSoap" can stay in English despite its perhaps generic or descriptive nature. While not binding, the infographic suggests that primary trademarks will be exempt from the rules regarding generic / descriptive terms. However, we are still awaiting clarifications regarding the treatment of secondary and variant brand names.
As many stakeholders have a vested interest in the impact of these changes, we will provide additional clarifications as we delve into the interpretation of Bill 96 and its Regulation.