Group III International Ltd. v. Travelway Group International Ltd., 2017 FCA 215
Justice Gleason; Justice de Montigny; Justice Woods - 2017-11-06
Read full decision. Automatically generated summary:
The parties in this appeal all have an association with luggage and bags sold in Canada to which are affixed trademarks featuring a cross reminiscent of the Swiss flag. The appellants sought to enforce their trademarks by applying to the Federal Court for a declaration of infringement and other relief under the Trade-marks Act. The application before Justice St-Louis was not successful, largely on the basis that the appellants were not able to establish a likelihood of confusion with the respondent’s marks (2016 FC 347). ... For the reasons above, I have concluded that a palpable and overriding error was made by the Federal Court in its conclusion that there was no likelihood of confusion between the Travelway triangle mark and the Wenger cross mark. Primarily, the Federal Court failed to give sufficient weight to factors in the appellants’ favour, as discussed above, and it erred in giving significant weight to factors in the respondent’s favour. The evidence demonstrates a strong likelihood of confusion between the Travelway triangle mark and the Wenger cross mark. ... In light of these findings, I would conclude the appellants have established passing off contrary to paragraph 7(b) of the Act.
Decision relates to:
- A-128-16 - GROUP III INTERNATIONAL LTD. ET AL v. TRAVELWAY GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD. which is an appeal from a decision dated 2016-03-24 in T-1380-13