1

FOR MEMBERS OF THE RETAIL COUNCIL OF CANADA ONLY

GUIDE ON USE OF TRADEMARKS ON SIGNS IN QUEBEC

Translation of the guide prepared by the Office québécois de la langue française on the new regulations that came into force on November 24, 2016

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact: Jean-Luc Benoît, Director, Government Relations at: jlbenoit@cccd-rcc.org or 514-316-8913

2

OFFICE QUÉBÉCOIS DE LA LANGUE FRANÇAISE

Use

of Trademarks on Signs

Obligations regarding outside signs featuring trademarks with no French equivalent

4

Table of contents

Public Signs, Trademarks and Business Names .................................................................. 5

Regulations under the Charter of the French Language ..................................................... 6

Display of Trademarks on Signs ......................................................................................... 7

Types of signs ............................................................................................................................. 7

Terms and messages that provide the French language with sufficient presence .............................................................................................................. 9

The characteristics of terms and messages that provide the French language with sufficient presence .................................................................................................................................. 11

Definitions ......................................................................................................................... 14

TERMS HIGHLIGHTED IN ORANGE ARE DEFINED IN THE DEFINITIONS SECTION AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT.

5

Public Signs, Trademarks and Business Names

The Charter of the French Language stipulates that public signs and posters and commercial advertising in Quebec must be in French. Another language can also be used, provided that French is MARKEDLY PREDOMINANT. However, there are exceptions to this rule. The Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business permits that certain elements of signs or posters appear only in a language other the French. These elements include:

- a recognized TRADEMARK within the meaning of the Trademarks Act, unless a French version of the trademark has been registered. Thus, a trademark in a language other than French does not need to be translated to French or removed from the company’s signs or posters as long as it is recognized within the meeting of that Act.

A trademark is not the same thing as a business name. A trademark is a combination of letters, words, sounds, symbols or designs used by a company to differentiate its products and services from those of competitors. It can be registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). The words in a trademark can be in a language other than French. On the other hand, a BUSINESS NAME allows a corporation, individual, partnership or association to increase consumer awareness and to distinguish itself from other businesses. It consists of one or more words and often includes both a GENERIC part and a SPECIFIC part. A business may post signs with several trademarks outside a building. These may serve to distinguish certain products and services offered by the business. They can be used to identify a business by also serving as a name.

6

Regulations under the Charter of the French Language

The Government of Quebec announced amendments to the Regulation Defining the Scope of the Expression “Markedly Predominant” for the Purposes of the Charter of the French Language. The purpose of these regulatory amendments is to set rules governing the use of trademarks on signs and posters and to safeguard the presence of French in the province's linguistic landscape. The new provisions apply immediately to the installation of any new sign featuring a trademark outside the building. For existing signs, businesses have until November 24, 2019, to ensure they comply. This deadline also applies:

- when the trademark is displayed in more than one location in the province, due to a franchise system or otherwise;

- when a newly installed or replaced sign is concerned by the issuance of or application for a municipal permit or any other form of government authorization, no later than six months before the date at which the Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business is published in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

This document explains the elements affected by the provisions on signs featuring a trademark.

7

Display of Trademarks on Signs

Types of signs

The Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business applies only to signs in a language other than French:

1) outside a BUILDING (connected to or hung on it), including the roof. This includes overhanging signs and signs at a right angle to the building;

“Building” means a structure, built of any material, intended for use by at least one person in order to exercise one or more activities. It excludes temporary or seasonal installations.

2) outside COMMERCIAL PREMISES located in a building or a larger building complex (for example, a shopping centre or a mall, whether underground or not);

“Commercial premises” means a closed or open space reserved for exercise of an activity. It may be a booth or a counter for selling products at a shopping centre. However, the term excludes temporary or seasonal installations.

3) inside a building or commercial premises, if it has been installed or designed to be seen from the outside;

4) on a billboard or independent structure, including a totem-style structure.

8

The Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business does not apply to trademarks displayed:

1) on a totem-type structure with more than two trademarks;

2) on a billboard or another independent structure, including totem-type structures, located near a building or commercial premises, when the same trademark is displayed outside;

3) on a vehicle or a display case

or structure;

4) on a product or in a catalogue, brochure, folder or directory, since these are neither a sign nor a poster.

9

Terms and messages that provide the French language with sufficient presence

A trademark that exists only in a language other than French can be displayed as on page 7 if the French language is sufficiently present on the premises. The French language can be present in the form of:

1) one or more GENERIC words that accompany the trademark;

"Generic" means a descriptive element that is normally used to name the business’ area of activity, the services it provides or the goods it sells; for example, with Vêtements COOLKIDS, the generic word is Vêtements.

1) a description of the products or services sold by the business;

2) a slogan;

3) any other indication, with emphasis on product or service information useful to consumers or the people who frequent the area.

10

Some information, while in French, does not provide the French language with sufficient presence in the province's linguistic landscape and is therefore not considered when assessing the emphasis given to this language by a business. This includes:

- business hours, telephone numbers, street and email addresses;

- numbers and percentages;

- definite articles (le, la, les), indefinite articles (un, une, des) and partitive articles (du, de, d’, de la, de l’, des);

- terms that are illegible from less than one metre away unless the trademark is not either.

Moreover, French wording that is precarious (on account of the materials used or the conditions in which it is affixed), that can easily be removed or torn off, is not deemed to provide French with permanent visibility. Where the displayed French is precarious, the business must show that it has taken measures to guarantee the presence or replacement of the French sign, as applicable.

11

The characteristics of terms and messages that provide the French language with sufficient presence

To provide the French language with sufficient presence, the terms and messages must:

always be visible. The visibility of the French terms and messages must be similar to that of the trademark;

be legible in the same FIELD OF VISION as that targeted primarily by display of the trademark;

“Field of vision” means a space in which all components are visible at the same time from a specific location, without the reader needing to move.

be lit at all times, if the trademark is. Businesses are not required to use the same means of display or lighting for the French terms and messages as for the trademark.

In short, these French terms or messages do not necessarily have to be displayed at the same place as the trademark nor must they be equivalent in number. They do not have to be presented on the same structure as the trademark, which means both the materials and the size may differ. However, they must be designed, lit and located in such a manner as to be easily read at any time and from any point where the trademark is legible.

12

Note that to be deemed legible, a passerby must be able to read the French term or message from:

- the sidewalk along the façade where the trademark is visible, when the trademark is displayed outside a building on a street with a sidewalk;

- the middle of the corridor or area facing the commercial premises, when the trademark is displayed outside commercial premises located in a building or in a large building complex (e.g., shopping centre);

- the highway, when the trademark is visible from a highway.

13

If, in addition to the French terms or messages accompanying the trademark, there are other terms or messages in another language, those in French must be markedly predominant. The marked predominance requirement may be met in several ways. For example, if a sign displays text in French and in another language, the French text is considered markedly predominant provided:

- the space reserved for the French text is at least twice as large as that reserved for text in the other language;

- the characters used in the French text are at least twice as large as those used for text in the other language;

- the other characteristics of the components displayed in another language do not reduce the VISUAL IMPACT of the French text.

Note that the French need not be markedly predominant with respect to the trademark. In fact, the Regulation Defining the Scope of the Expression “Markedly Predominant” for the Purposes of the Charter of the French Language specifies that, in determining the visual impact, the display of a trademark in a language other than French is disregarded.

14

Definitions

FIELD OF VISION

Space in which all components are visible at the same time from a specific location, without the reader

needing to move.

GENERIC

A descriptive element that is normally used to name the business’ area of activity, the services it

provides or the goods it sells. A generic description may consist of one or more words.

BUILDING

A structure, built of any material, intended for use by at least one person in order to exercise one or

more activities, but excluding temporary or seasonal installations (section 25.2 of the Regulation

Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business).

VISUAL IMPACT

The visual impact conveys the importance of the message in one language versus that in another language.

COMMERCIAL PREMISES

A closed or open space reserved for exercise of an activity, including a booth or counter for selling

products at a shopping centre, but excluding temporary or seasonal installations (section 25.2 of the

Regulation Respecting the Language of Commerce and Business).

TRADEMARK

A trademark may consist of one or several words, sounds or designs used to distinguish the

products or services of one person or organization from those of other persons or organizations.

There are three types of trademarks:

• an ordinary trademark is made up of words, sounds, designs or a combination of these used to

distinguish the goods or services of one person or organization from those of others;

• a certification mark can be licensed to many people or companies for the purpose of showing

that certain goods or services meet a defined standard;

• a distinguishing guise is about the shape of goods or their containers, or a way of

wrapping or packaging goods that shows they have been made by a specific individual or

firm.

(Canadian Intellectual Property Office, www.ic.gc.ca)

15

MARKED PREDOMINANCE OF FRENCH

On public signs and posters and in commercial advertising that are both in French and another

language, French appears markedly predominant when the French text has a much greater visual

impact than the text in another language. In determining the visual impact, a family name, geographic

name, trademark or other words in a language other than French are disregarded when such use is

specifically permitted under an exception stipulated in the Charter of the French Language or a

regulation thereof (section 1 of the Regulation Defining the Scope of the Expression “Markedly

Predominant” for the Purposes of the Charter of the French Language).

BUSINESS NAME

The name a business uses to increase consumer awareness and to distinguish itself from other

businesses. It is often formed by a generic part and a specific part. In accordance with section 63

of the Charter of the French Language, a business name must be in French.

SPECIFIC

The element of a business name that can be used to clearly distinguish one business from another.

16

The content of this document is for information purposes only

and holds no legal value.

For more information, please contact us:

Email: info@oqlf.gouv.qc.ca

Phone: 514-873-6565 or 1-888-873-6202 (toll-free from anywhere in Quebec)

Fax: 514-873-3488

Office québécois de la langue française

Camille-Laurin Building

125 Sherbrooke Street West

Montreal, Quebec H2X 1X4

Website [French only]: www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/francisation/entreprises

ISBN for print version: 978-2-550-76815-9

ISBN for electronic version: 978-2-550-7681-6

17

9255.2016.-10.