After losing the battle in court over the requirement that businesses must add French language to English trade-marks displayed on signage outside their stores, the Québec government announced its intention in June 2015 to make modifications to Québec’s Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business (“Regulation”).
As recently reported in the media, the Québec government has announced proposed changes to the Regulation, the stated purpose of which is to ensure that commerce in Québec has more of a French language presence. The proposed changes require businesses to ensure that when trade-marks in languages other than French are used on exterior signage (as defined by the proposed rules), a French language component is displayed on the site as well. The proposed amendments set out the circumstances in which the new rules will apply, including when the trade-mark is displayed on interior signage that is intended to be seen from the outside, or when exterior signage is located in a mall or shopping centre complex.
The French language component may take the form of a slogan, a generic term or description, or other information concerning the products and services offered by the business. The proposed rules do not require that the French component be predominant over the non-French trade-mark, but they require that the French component be permanently visible in a manner similar to that of the non-French trade-mark being displayed, and be legible in the same visual field as the trade-mark.
A helpful illustration of acceptable and non-acceptable signage under the proposed changes can be found here.
A 45 day period for public feedback on the proposed amendments commenced on May 4, 2016. We will report again when there is a further update. In the meantime, brand owners using trade-marks in languages other than French in Québec should start considering how they will comply with the new French language requirements, assuming those requirements are passed into law, and whether their proposed strategy necessitates any changes to their current Canadian trade-mark portfolio.