Docket: T-1179-12
Citation:
2014 FC 440
Toronto, Ontario, May 7, 2014
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell
BETWEEN:
|
THE SERVICEMASTER COMPANY
|
Applicant
|
and
|
385229 ONTARIO LTD. DBA MASTERCLEAN SERVICE COMPANY
|
Respondent
|
ORDER AND REASONS
[1]
The present Application is an appeal from a
decision pursuant to s. 56 of the Trade-marks Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. T-13
(Act), dated March 30, 2012 in which the Opposition Board on behalf of
the Registrar of Trade-marks ("Registrar"), on opposition by the
Respondent, refused Canadian Trade-mark Application No. 1,070,731 and
Trade-mark Application No. 1,278,252 filed by the Applicant seeking
registration of the trade-marks, respectively, SERVICEMASTER CLEAN (the
"Word Mark") and SERVICEMASTER CLEAN & Design (the "Design
Mark").
[2]
The Applicant's Word Mark and Design Mark were
advertised in association with the following services:
Business advisory, business consulting and
franchising services, namely, offering technical assistance in the
establishment or operation or both of cleaning, building management, or building
repair management services companies; providing technical assistance in the
establishment and operation of a business; providing technical assistance in
the establishment and operation of cleaning services; cleaning services for the
interiors of buildings, including private homes, commercial buildings, health
care institutions, industrial facilities, and educational facilities, and the
furnishings thereof, including carpets, floors, walls, furniture and fixtures;
janitorial services, disaster restoration services, namely restoring
building interiors and exteriors damaged by fire, flood, and other disasters.
Colour is claimed as a feature of the Design
Mark: the word SERVICEMASTER is in turquoise and the triangle design is in
yellow. The application disclaims the right to the exclusive use of the words
SERVICE and CLEAN apart from the mark.
[3]
The Respondent is the owner of the registered
trade-mark MASTER CLEAN with registration number TMA226,306 registered February
24, 1978, in association with wares, being “carpet cleaning machines”, and the
services “restoration, renovation and cleaning services”. The registration is
based on use in association with the Respondent's services since May 1, 1980.
The Respondent has also used the trade-mark MASTERCLEAN in association with the
Respondent's services since at least as early as November 1, 1971.
[4]
With respect to the Word Mark, the Registrar
dismissed each of the s. 30, s. 12(1)(d),
s. 16(1)(c), and s. 2 grounds of the Respondent’s opposition. However, with
respect to
s. 16(1)(a), the Registrar found that the Respondent’s ground of opposition
succeeded. With respect to the Design Mark, the Registrar found that the
Respondent’s grounds of opposition succeeded with respect to s. 12(1)(d), s. 16(1)(d),
and s. 2.
[5]
In the present appeal from the Registrar’s
decision, the Applicant has limited the challenge to the Registrar’s findings
upon which the Respondent’s grounds of opposition succeeded, and relies heavily
on a “new evidence” argument. With respect to the conduct of the present
appeal, the law is well developed in Molson Breweries, a Partnership v. John
Labatt Ltd., (2000), 5 C.P.R. (4th) 180 (F.C.A.) and Hawke & Company
Outfitters LLC v. Retail Royalty Company and American Outfitters, Inc. 2012
FC 1539: the standard of review for appeals pursuant to s.56 of the Act is
reasonableness unless new evidence is filed that would have materially affected
the Registrar's decision; in the absence of additional material evidence,
decisions of the Registrar, whether fact, law or discretion, within his or her
area of expertise, are to be reviewed on a standard of reasonableness; because
of the expertise of the Registrar, decisions of the Registrar are entitled to
some deference and should not be set aside lightly; however, where additional
evidence is filed that would have materially affected the Registrar's finding
of fact or exercise of discretion, the Court must come to its own conclusions
as to the correctness of the decision, and, accordingly, the evidence filed by
the Applicant must be assessed to determine if it would have materially
affected the Registrar's decision; if the Court determines that the evidence
would not have materially affected the Register's decision, the decision of the
Registrar must be given deference, not be set aside lightly, reviewed on a
standard of reasonableness, and the question is whether the Registrar's
decision can withstand a "somewhat probing" examination and is not
"clearly wrong” (see Respondent’s Argument of Fact and Law, paras. 23 –
29).
[6]
A key feature of the present appeal is the
Registrar’s findings on the relevance of evidence, and, therefore, the
admissibility of evidence with respect to both s. 12(1)(d) and
s. 16(1)(a). Each provision reads as follows:
12. (1) Subject to section 13, a trade-mark
is registrable if it is not
[…]
(d) confusing with a registered trade-mark;
[…]
16. (1) Any applicant who has filed an
application in accordance with section 30 for registration of a trade-mark
that is registrable and that he or his predecessor in title has used in
Canada or made known in Canada in association with wares or services is
entitled, subject to section 38, to secure its registration in respect of
those wares or services, unless at the date on which he or his predecessor in
title first so used it or made it known it was confusing with
(a) a trade-mark that had been
previously used in Canada or made known in Canada by any other person;
[…]
|
12. (1) Sous réserve de l’article 13, une
marque de commerce est enregistrable sauf dans l’un ou l’autre des cas
suivants:
[…]
d) elle crée de la
confusion avec une marque de commerce déposée;
[…]
16. (1) Tout requérant qui a produit une
demande selon l’article 30 en vue de l’enregistrement d’une marque de
commerce qui est enregistrable et que le requérant ou son prédécesseur en
titre a employée ou fait connaître au Canada en liaison avec des marchandises
ou services, a droit, sous réserve de l’article 38, d’en obtenir
l’enregistrement à l’égard de ces marchandises ou services, à moins que, à la
date où le requérant ou son prédécesseur en titre l’a en premier lieu ainsi
employée ou révélée, elle n’ait créé de la confusion:
a) soit avec une marque
de commerce antérieurement employée ou révélée au Canada par une autre
personne;
[…]
|
I.
The Registrar’s Word Mark Findings
A. Re: s. 12(1)(d)
[7]
The Registrar found that this ground of
opposition failed, which is, of course, not contested by the Applicant in the
present appeal. However, the finding is important to the present appeal
because, as described below, the Applicant relies upon it to address the
Registrar’s
s. 16(1)(a) findings:
Having considered all of the surrounding
circumstances, I find that the Applicant has established, on a balance of
probabilities, that confusion is not likely between SERVICEMASTER CLEAN and
MASTER CLEAN as of today's date for the reasons that follow.
It is difficult to monopolize weak words such
as "master clean". While acknowledging that the Opponent has acquired
a reputation of some extent in association with MASTER CLEAN, this is the sort
of mark that is typically not given a broad scope of protection, with small
differences being sufficient to distinguish a similar mark. SERVICEMASTER CLEAN
does resemble MASTERCLEAN, but given that the first, more dominant portion is
different, the marks are sufficiently different to make confusion unlikely,
especially in view of the fact that the Applicant has established a significant
reputation in association with SERVICEMASTER CLEAN. The lack of evidence of any
confusion as to source despite more than 10 years coexistence further supports
my conclusion.
The s. 12(1)(d) ground of opposition
accordingly fails.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, paras. 50 – 52)
B. Re: s. 16(1)(a)
[8]
The Registrar found that this ground of opposition
succeeded which is contested by the Applicant:
Having considered all of the
surrounding circumstances, I arrive at the conclusion that the probabilities of
confusion between MASTER CLEAN and SERVICEMASTER CLEAN as of October 1997
are evenly balanced between a finding of confusion and of no confusion. I reach
this conclusion because on the one hand MASTER CLEAN is not the type of mark
that is typically accorded a broad scope of protection and the Applicant's Mark
has a different beginning from the Opponent's mark, but on the other hand, only
the Opponent had acquired a reputation in association with its mark as of October
1997,the parties are competitors and the Applicant's Word Mark consists of
the Opponent's entire mark preceded by the inherently weak word SERVICE. As the
legal burden is on the Applicant to establish, on a balance of probabilities,
that the Mark is not confusing with the Opponent's trade-mark, the s. 16(1)(a)
ground succeeds. I note that the difference in outcome between this ground
and the s. 12(1)(d) ground is also attributable in part to the fact that the
evidence of coexistence without confusion, as well as the evidence of third
party use of similar marks, cannot be considered under this ground.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, para. 60)
Evidence relied upon by the Registrar to
reach the findings of fact emphasized in the quoted reasons is as follows:
The Opponent's evidence
concerning use of its mark prior to October 1997 is as follows. Mr. English
[President of the Respondent Company] attests that the Opponent and its
predecessor have used MASTER CLEAN continuously since 1980 in association with
restoration, renovation and cleaning services. In his affidavit he states that sales
from May 1, 1996 to April 30, 1997 were $2,093,828. In addition, at Question
356 of his cross-examination he was asked what the sales were prior to May 1,
1996 and responded that sales "hovered on the 2-million range for several
years ... [and that his company] had 34 years of continuous growth, but always
the same, a little bit per year." I am therefore satisfied that there were
substantial sales of MASTER CLEAN services prior to the Applicant's claimed
date of first use.
[…]
In his affidavit, Mr. English
also attests that advertising expenditures associated with the Opponent's mark
were $92,065 between May 1, 1996 and April 30, 1997.
Of course, as of the
Applicant's claimed date of first use there had been no use or advertising of
the Word Mark, with the result that a consideration of the length of time that
the marks had been in use and the extent to which each had become known
necessarily favours the Opponent.
The Applicant's position is
clearly less strong under this ground than under the s. 12(1)(d) ground. I note
that the evidence of state of the marketplace postdates the material date under
this ground and so is of no avail to the Applicant.
[Emphasis added]
II.
The Registrar’s Design Mark Findings
[9]
The Applicant contests each of the Registrar’s
findings with respect to the Design Mark.
A. Re: 12(1)(d)
[10]
The Registrar provided the following reasons for
finding that this ground of opposition succeeded:
Having considered all of the
surrounding circumstances, I arrive at the conclusion that as of today's
date the probabilities of confusion between MASTER CLEAN and the Design
Mark are evenly balanced between a finding of confusion and of no confusion. I
reach this conclusion because on the one hand MASTER CLEAN is not the type of
mark that is typically accorded a broad scope of protection and there are
differences between the Opponent's mark and the Design Mark, while on the other
hand, the parties are competitors and the Applicant has chosen a design that
emphasizes the words in its mark that comprise the Opponent's entire mark. As
the legal burden is on the Applicant to establish, on a balance of
probabilities, that the Design Mark is not confusing with the Opponent's
trade-mark, the s. 12(1)(d) ground succeeds based on registration No.
TMA226,306. I note that the difference in outcome under s. 12(1)(d) between the
Design Mark and the Word Mark is also attributable in part due to the vague
evidence concerning the reputation acquired by the Design Mark, which
resulted in me being unable to draw any inference from the lack of evidence of
confusion.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, para. 71)
With respect to the “vague” evidence of
reputation finding, the Registrar relied on the following evidence:
Another factor whereby the
analysis with respect to the Applicant's Design Mark differs from that with
respect to the Applicant's Word Mark is the extent to which the Applicant's
mark has become known. For example, Mr. England [Director, Vice President and
Secretary, ServiceMaster of Canada LTD.] has provided sales and advertising
figures for the Applicant's services annually since 1997; however, each figure
provided relates to both the Word Mark and the Design Mark. While use of the
Design Mark qualifies as use of the Word Mark, the reverse is not true. Therefore,
it is unclear what percentage of those figures is attributable to the Design
Mark. Therefore, to some degree the sales and advertising figures provided
by the Applicant must be accorded reduced weight.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, para. 70)
B. Re: s. 16(1)(a)
[11]
The Registrar provided the following reasons for
finding that this ground of opposition succeeded:
Having considered all of the
surrounding circumstances, I arrive at the conclusion that as of October 1,
1997 the probabilities of confusion between MASTER CLEAN and the Design
Mark are evenly balanced between a finding of confusion and of no confusion. I
reach this conclusion because on the one hand MASTER CLEAN is not the type of
mark that is typically accorded a broad scope of protection and there are
differences between MASTER CLEAN and the Design Mark, but on the other hand, only
the Opponent had acquired a reputation in association with its mark as of
October 1, 1997, the parties are competitors and the design features of the
Applicant's Design Mark emphasize that portion of the Design Mark that
replicates the Opponent's mark in its entirety. As the legal burden is on the
Applicant to establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the Mark is not
confusing with the Opponent's trade mark, the s. 16(1)(a) ground succeeds. As
noted with respect to the Word Mark, any evidence of coexistence without
confusion or third party use of similar marks postdates the material date under
this ground and cannot be considered.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, para. 75)
Evidence relied upon by the Registrar to
reach the findings of fact emphasized in the quoted reasons is as follows:
The Opponent's evidence
concerning use of its mark prior to October 1, 1997 in the opposition against
the Design Mark is less than it is with respect to the Word Mark because when
Mr. English was cross-examined with respect to the application for the Design
Mark he was not asked to evidence sales prior to May, 1996. Nevertheless, in
his affidavit he did provide sales and advertising figures for the time period
May 1, 1996 to April 30, 1997 and I find that the Opponent has met its initial
burden under s. 16(1)(a) with respect to the Design Mark. […]
Of course, as of the
Applicant's claimed date of first use there had been no use or advertising of
the Design Mark, with the result that a consideration of the length of time
that the marks had been in use and the extent to which each had become known
necessarily favours the Opponent.
[Emphasis added]
(Decision, paras. 73 and 74)
C. Re: s. 2
[12]
The Registrar provided the following reasons for
finding that this ground of opposition succeeded::
In order to meet its initial
burden with respect to its distinctiveness ground of opposition the Opponent
must evidence that its MASTER CLEAN trade-mark had become sufficiently known as
of November 6, 2006 to negate the distinctiveness of the Design Mark. Mr.
English's evidence satisfies the Opponent's initial burden.
The Applicant's position as of
November 6, 2006 is no stronger than it is as of today's date under the s.
12(1)(d) ground of opposition and for reasons similar to those discussed with
respect to the s. 12(1)(d) ground, the distinctiveness ground of opposition
succeeds with respect to the Design Mark.
(Decision, paras. 77 and 78)
III.
The Applicant’s “New Evidence” Argument
[13]
A factor driving the Applicant’s arguments in
the present appeal is the fact that, with respect to the Word Mark, the
Applicant was successful on the Registrar’s application of s. 12(1)(d).
Nevertheless, the Registrar effectively made a finding of confusion under s.
16(1)(a) with respect to the Word Mark and the Design Mark. Since it takes only
one finding of confusion for each Mark to make each Mark unregistrable, a
primary thrust of the Applicant’s new evidence argument is to negate the
Registrar’s s. 16(1)(a) findings. In addition, the Applicant offers new
evidence to address an evidentiary issue with respect to the Registrar’s
finding under s. 12(1)(d) of the Design Mark in hopes that it can be overturned
as well.
[14]
The new evidence tendered by the Applicant is
described in Counsel for the Applicant’s argument as follows:
The
Applicant has put forward evidence on appeal from two witnesses, Mr. Ian
England [Director, Vice President and Secretary, ServiceMaster of Canada LTD.]
and Ms. Mary Noonan [researcher]. This new evidence directly responds to those
specific alleged evidentiary deficiencies which the Board pointed to as in its
decision. (Affidavit of Ian England, dated August 2, 2012 ("England 2012
Affidavit").
Ian
England explained that the $1.2 billion in revenue from 1997 to 2006 stated in
his previous affidavits were sales made in association with the Design Mark As
noted by the Board, use of the Design Mark qualifies as use of the Word Mark.
Ian England testified that in the 9 year period of 1988 to 1996,
just prior to the adoption of the Word Mark and Design Mark in 1997, the
revenue for services offered by ServiceMaster in Canada under the SERVICEMASTER
trade-mark totaled [sic] over $440 million. Mr. England stated this was a
conservative figure as it did not include all of their distributors.
During the same period of 1988 to 1996, $4.4 million was spent in
advertising and promotion using the SERVICEMASTER trade-mark. Again, this is a
conservative figure.
Ian
England also explained that the business segment that ServiceMaster competes
with Masterclean is in disaster restoration, and not in general cleaning, but
that ServiceMaster has adopted different branding for its disaster restoration
business - SERVICEMASTER RESTORE and SERVICEMASTER RESTORE & Design,
essentially using the identifier RESTORE instead of CLEAN since it better
reflected the nature of the work performed, i.e., restoration and not cleaning.
The
change occurred in April 2009, prior to the Board decision, but after the
evidentiary phase before the Trade-marks Opposition Board, and evidence
surrounding this change was therefore not before the Board when it rendered its
decision.
Ian
England also affirms that he is aware of no instances of any confusion between
use of the Word Mark, or Design mark with the Respondent or its trade-mark
MASTER CLEAN.
The
Applicant also filed the affidavit of Mary P. Noonan on appeal. She provided
evidence of the State of the Registrar as of October 1997. She located active
trade-marks as of 1997 which included MASTER, for use in association with
cleaning products or cleaning services. (Affidavit of Mary P Noonan dated
August 2, 2012 ("Noonan 2012 Affidavit'').
Ms.
Noonan also did a search for active trade-marks from 1997 which included CLEAN,
for use in association with cleaning products or cleaning services. She located
416 such marks.
Ms.
Noonan also located Hydra Master Cleaning Systems Ltd., which was an active
Federal Corporation in 1997.
Ms.
Noonan also located 69 trade-names active in 1997 which included MASTER and
CLEAN. The trade-name include: M&M MASTER CLEAN; MASTER CLEAN CARPET
CLEANING, MASTER CLEAN INC. MASTER CLEAN LTD. MASTERCLEAN JANITORIAL SERVICES
(RED DEER); and MASTERCLEAN SERVICES.
Ms.
Noonan was not cross examined and her testimony remains uncontroverted.
(Applicant’s Memorandum of Fact and Law, paras.
58 – 69)
[15]
The relevance of the Applicant’s new evidence is
the primary issue for determination in the present Application.
A. The “coexistence without
confusion” new evidence that post-dates the date of first use
[16]
As emphasized by the underlining in the quoted
passages from the Registrar’s decision, the Registrar communicated clear
opinions on the correct interpretation of the relevant date with respect to
each ground of opposition. That is, for the purpose of reaching a conclusion on
the existence of confusion between a Mark advanced for registration and a
registered trade mark, with respect to s. 12(1)(d) the relevant date is the
date of the Registrar’s decision, but with respect to s. 16(1)(a) the relevant
date is the date of first use of the Mark advanced for registration: for the
Word Mark it is October 1997, and for the Design Mark it is October 1, 1997.
[17]
As recounted above, with respect to both the Word
and Design Marks, the Registrar made a s. 16(1)(a) finding that “coexistence
without confusion” and “evidence of third party use of similar marks” cannot be
considered. By this statement the Registrar is making the point that, with
respect to the s. 12(1)(d) conclusion on the Word Mark that confusion did not
exist at the time that the Opposition decision was rendered, the evidence
supporting that conclusion is irrelevant to the application of s. 16(1)(a) to
both Marks because the key time under consideration is the date of first use of
the Marks.
[18]
The Applicant directly challenges the
Registrar’s findings on the relevance of evidence that post-dates the date of
first use. Counsel for the Applicant makes the argument that the Registrar’s
exclusion of the post-date of first use evidence constitutes an error in
principle:
[…]
there is no principled reason why the Board member could not consider the long
evidence of co-existence without confusion as part of the s.16 analysis. The
Board Member did not cite any case law for her interpretation of the applicable
law. As a matter of logic, one should be able to consider inference to be drawn
from lack of no evidence of confusion for over 15 years, with significant overlap
in disaster restoration services between 1997 to 2009, to give an indication as
to whether there was a likelihood of confusion at the very beginning.
(Applicant’s Memorandum of Fact and Law, para.
110)
[19]
I find that the Registrar’s conclusion is based
on a literal interpretation of the words used in s. 16. That is, the confusion
analysis concerns the evidence that existed “at the date of first use”.
As a result, I do not agree with Counsel for the Applicant that the Registrar’s
inadmissibility findings are not based on a principled reason. The issue is one
of statutory interpretation. In my opinion, for Counsel for the Applicant to
succeed on the “no principled reason” argument it is necessary to produce a
principled argument that challenges the Registrar’s opinion on the law. No such
argument is advanced. It is not enough to resort to “logic” to support the
challenge. Only a properly framed statutory interpretation argument
establishing that the Registrar’s literal interpretation of s. 16(1)(a) is not
correct, when viewed in the context of compelling evidence and, or, compelling
precedent, will suffice; none was advanced.
[20]
As a result, I find that there is no error in
principle in the Registrar’s findings of the exclusion of irrelevant evidence
under s. 16(1)(a). Therefore, I also find that Mr. England’s post-date of first
use evidence is irrelevant.
B. The “reputation” new
evidence that pre-dates the date of first use
[21]
With respect to both the Word Mark and Design
Marks, the Registrar made a s. 16(1)(a) finding that “only the Opponent had
acquired a reputation in association with its mark” as of the date of first
use, being as of October 1997 and October 1, 1997, respectively. The Applicant
advanced the new evidence of the Applicant’s reputation prior to the dates of
first use to support a factual finding to the contrary.
[22]
On the basis of the following argument Counsel
for the Applicant argues that, contrary to the Registrar’s opinion, evidence of
reputation that pre-dates the date of first use is also relevant:
The
Applicant has filed new evidence demonstrating there was a significant
reputation in the SERVICEMASTER trade-mark prior to 1997, generated
through, inter alia, $440 million in revenue; there were significant sales made
in association with the SERVICEMASTER CLEAN & Design mark; there were
numerous trade-marks and trade-names incorporation [sic] CLEAN and MASTER in
1997; there was no overlap in the services offered under the Word and Design
Marks and the MASTER CLEAN mark. This new evidence directly addresses the
evidentiary deficiencies in the record before the Board.
(Applicant’s Memorandum of Fact and Law, para.
75)
[23]
The Registrar acknowledged the reputation issue
in delivering the decision under review. In conducting the confusion analysis
under s. 12(1)(d) with respect to the Word Mark, on the issue of “the inherent distinctiveness
of the marks, the extent to which each had become known, and the length of time
the marks have been in use”, the Registrar made the following observation:
A
mark's distinctiveness may be increased through use and promotion. The
Applicant has used SERVICEMASTER in Canada since at least 1954 and it
adopted SERVICEMASTER CLEAN in 1997 to better distinguish its divisions that
offered cleaning-related services. Use of the Word Mark in Canada has been continuous since 1997 and the associated national ad fund exceeded $3.5
million between 1997 and 2007. The Word Mark has been advertised on the website
www.servicemaster.ca, in magazines, in directories, through pamphlets, at trade
shows and conferences, through the sponsorship of events, via direct mailings,
on franchisees' service vehicles, and by radio advertisements. Sales associated
with SERVICEMASTER CLEAN services in Canada between 1997 and 2006 exceeded
$1.28 billion, which is broken down by division approximately as follows:
disaster restoration - $800 million; residential cleaning services - $25
million; commercial cleaning services - $l38 million; janitorial services -
$320 million.
[Emphasis
added]
(Decision, para. 25)
And on the issue of “the degree of
resemblance between the marks”, the Registrar made the following observation:
Although
the Word Mark begins with a word that is not in the Opponent's mark, the
Applicant has incorporated the Opponent's mark in its entirety into its Word
Mark. This results in there being a fair degree of resemblance between the
marks in appearance, sound and ideas suggested. I note however that the
Applicant has argued that, due to the existing reputation of the Applicant's
SERVICEMASTER mark/name, the Word Mark would suggest cleaning services
offered by Servicemaster while the Opponent's mark suggests that they are the
masters of cleaning. While I recognize that the Applicant's ownership of a
registration for SERVICEMASTER does not give it the automatic right to obtain
any further registrations no matter how closely they may be related to the
original registration [see Coronet-Werke Heinrich Schlerf GmbH v. Produits
Menagers Coronet Inc. (1984),4 C.P.R. (3d) 108 at 115 (T.M.O.B.)], I
nevertheless accept that a reputation established for the first and dominant portion
of the Word Mark would be of assistance in distinguishing the source of the
services associated with the Word Mark, especially in a case such as this where
one is dealing with inherently weak marks.
[Emphasis
added]
(Decision, para. 36)
[24]
In reaching the decision under review it is
clear that the Registrar was alive to the reputation concerning the
SERVICEMASTER mark/name, and in my opinion, being supplied with more evidence
on the same topic as advanced by the Applicant would not have materially affected
the Registrar’s findings.
[25]
In Counsel for the Applicant’s description of
the new evidence as quoted above, Ms. Noonan advances third party evidence
existing at the date of first use of both the Work Mark and Design Marks on the
issue of confusion at that date.
[26]
Counsel for the Respondent makes the point in
argument that, with respect to third party evidence, it is necessary for the
Applicant to establish third party use of similar marks as of the date
of first use (Applicant’s Memorandum of Fact and Law, para. 81). I accept this
argument. Because Ms. Noonan’s evidence does not establish third party use
of similar marks as of the date of first use, I find that it is irrelevant and,
as such, it would not have materially affected the Registrar’s findings.
C. The s. 12(1)(d) Design Mark
Evidentiary Deficiency
[27]
The Applicant argues that the new evidence will
have a material affect on the finding made in paragraph 71 of the Registrar's
decision, being that the Applicant provided "vague evidence concerning the
reputation acquired by the Design Mark". The finding is based on the
Registrar's expectation expressed in paragraph 70 of the decision: the sales
and advertising figures provided relates to both the Word Mark and the Design
Mark "therefore, it is unclear what percentage of those figures is
attributable to the Design Mark". The following is Mr. England's "new evidence" provided to meet this deficiency:
In
my earlier affidavits [April 17, 2007 and May 7, 2008] I provided evidence on
the sales of SERVICEMASTER CLEAN brand services in Canada, which totalled over
$1.2 billion between 1997 to 2006. As the sales figures were provided at the
customer level sales in each of our divisions, I want to clarify that these
sales were made in association with our SERVICEMASTER CLEAN & DESIGN trade
mark.
[Emphasis
added]
(Affidavit, August 2, 2012, para. 19)
Since the new evidence does not meet the
Registrar’s expectation, I find that it would not have materially affected the
Registrar’s decision.
IV.
Conclusion
[28]
I find that the Applicant has failed to produce
new evidence that would have materially affected the Registrar’s decision, and,
therefore, no need exists to exercise my discretion with respect to the
decision under appeal. I further find that the Registrar’s decision is reasonable
because it exhibits no error in principle and is not clearly wrong.