IN THE MATTER OF AN OPPOSITION
by Concert Productions International, a division
of BCL Entertainment Corp. to application No.
675,944 for the trade-mark CPI filed by
National Crises Prevention Institute
On February 1, 1991, the applicant, National Crises Prevention Institute, filed an application to register the trade-mark CPI based on use in Canada since 1983 with the following services:
educational services, namely, conducting classes, seminars,
or workshops for professionals in the field of handling
disruptive behavior of clients through crisis intervention.
The application was advertised for opposition purposes on September 25, 1991.
The opponent, Concert Productions International, a division of BCL Entertainment Corp.,
filed a statement of opposition on October 17, 1991 and a revised statement on February 12, 1992. A copy of the revised statement of opposition was forwarded to the applicant on April 3, 1992. The sole ground of opposition is that the applicant is not the person entitled to registration pursuant to Section 16(1) of the Trade-marks Act because, as of the applicant's claimed date of first use, the applied for trade-mark was confusing with the trade-name CPI which the opponent had previously used in Canada since 1975 in association with the business of "concert and event promotion, including contemporary music concerts and sporting events."
The applicant filed and served a counter statement. The opponent's evidence consists of an affidavit of Brian Eric Kert. As its evidence, the applicant filed a certified copy of registration No. 336,175. Both parties filed a written argument but no oral hearing was conducted.
In view of the provisions of Sections 16(1) and 16(5) of the Act, it was incumbent on the opponent to evidence use of its trade-name CPI prior to the applicant's claimed date of first use of December 31, 1983 and to show that its trade-name was not abandoned as of the applicant's date of advertisement (i.e. - September 25, 1991). In his affidavit, Mr. Kert identifies himself as the Corporate Counsel of the opponent. Appended as exhibits to his affidavit are a series of incorporation and business name registration documents relating to the opponent and its predecessors in title. Those documents do not evidence use of the opponent's trade-name. Mr. Kert also appended as an exhibit to his affidavit a photocopy of a publication entitled Cheap Thrills dated October of 1976 which contains articles, news and record reviews relating to pop music. The title of that publication is prefaced by the phrase "CPI Presents" and the publisher's name is listed on page 4 as Concert Productions International (presumably the opponent's predecessor Concert Productions International Limited).
The opponent has shown that its trade-name CPI was apparently employed by its predecessor in October of 1976 in association with a periodical entitled Cheap Thrills. However, there is no evidence that this periodical was distributed anywhere in Canada. More importantly, the existence of the magazine does not necessarily constitute evidence of use of the name CPI for the claimed business of "concert and event promotion." Thus, the opponent has failed to evidence prior use of its trade-name as alleged and the sole ground of opposition is unsuccessful.
Even if the opponent had evidenced distribution of its magazine in 1976 and had established that such distribution constituted use of the trade-name CPI for the business claimed, the opponent has failed to show non-abandonment of its trade-name as of the applicant's date of advertisement. Thus, the sole ground of opposition would have been unsuccessful, in any event. Furthermore, even if the opponent had shown non-abandonment of its trade-name, I doubt that I would have found the applicant's mark to be confusing with it in view of the inherent weakness of both the applicant's mark and the opponent's name (both being comprised of initials) and in view of the differences between the opponent's business and the applicant's services.
In view of the above, I reject the opponent's opposition.
DATED AT HULL, QUEBEC, THIS 31ST DAY OF AUGUST 1994.
David J. Martin,
Member,
Trade Marks Opposition Board.