Earlier this year, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced that it will increase its official fees on January 1, 2024. Earlier this summer, we wrote about the impact on patent fees, which are increasing by as much as 36%. In this article, we look at the resulting impact on Canadian trademark fees, which are also increasing by 20-35%.

Why are trademark fees in Canada increasing?

It is believed that the fee increases will go, at least in part, toward the hiring and training of new trademark examiners. CIPO has recently shared that 105 new examiners have already been hired. We are hopeful that the onboarding of more examiners at CIPO will help reduce the current delays in Canadian trademark examination, which have on average exceeded three years for some time, causing brand owners to seek out strategies to expedite or ‘fast-track’ examination.

What should brand owners do before January 1, 2024?

In light of the upcoming fee increases, we encourage brand owners interested in filing new Canadian trademark applications, particularly those seeking registration across multiple classes, to act now and file their applications before December 31, 2023. Additionally, those with trademark registrations which are due for renewal in the first half of 2024 may wish to pre-emptively renew their registrations to save money and avoid the increased renewal fees.

The increases to some commonly paid Canadian trademark fees are outlined in the chart below:

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