Pacific Western Brewing Company Ltd. (Pacific Western) recently applied to have a trademark expunged. That trademark belonged to Cerveceria del Pacifico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (Cerveceria), a Mexican brewing company that exports its Pacifico brand beer to Canada. After considering the submitted evidence, the Court dismissed Pacific Western’s application. Pacific Western alleged that Cerveceria’s trademark was not first used on the date indicated in Cerveceria’s trademark registration.
Pacific Western further alleged that Cerveceria was not entitled to register the Cerveceria trademark in the first place because it was confusingly similar to Pacific Western’s trademarks.
Justice Martineau, of the Federal Court, found that the Cerveceria trademark was launched in Canada at Expo 86 in Vancouver, which corresponded with the first use date stated on the trademark registration. With respect to whether there was confusion, Justice Martineau held that the evidence did not demonstrate that confusion was likely to occur. In considering the similarity of the trademarks, it was found that there were unique elements to Cerveceria’s trademark that caused it to differ significantly from Pacific Western’s trademarks.
The full decision can be read here: Pacific Western Brewing Company Ltd. v. Cerveceria del Pacifico, 2015 FC 1078 (CanLII)