What you need to know if you use a trademark drawn up in a language other than French

In August 2023, we published an article on the amendments made to Quebec legislation by Bill 96 (now “Act 14”)¹ regarding trademarks that appear in a language other than French in public signs and posters and in commercial advertising.

In line with our ongoing monitoring of legislative and regulatory reforms in this regard, the purpose of this article is to summarize the significant impacts of the amendments incorporated in the final version of the Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business² (the “Amendment Regulation”), which was published on June 26, 2024.

1- Affected Trademarks

Summary: When a French version of a “recognized” trademark (i.e., registered or not) does not appear in the register of trademarks maintained by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, the trademark continues to be exempt from certain linguistic obligations under the Charter of the French Language, as amended by Act 14, although subject to a number of conditions.

When Bill nᵒ 96 was being debated, much ink was spilled over the amendments proposed concerning the type of trademarks that could benefit from the exceptions provided for in the Charter of the French Language³ (the “Charter”) and the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business⁴ (the “Regulation”) with regards to language obligations for product labelling and public signs and posters. Indeed, the wording of the Regulation currently in force (as of the date of this article and until June 1, 2025) provides that “recognized” trademarks (i.e., registered or not) may be exempted from certain linguistic obligations with respect to product labelling and public signs and posters⁵.

However, the Charter, as amended by Act 14 and as of June 1, 2025, provides that only registered trademarks, with no corresponding French version registered in the register of trademarks maintained by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), will be exempt from these language obligations⁶.

Faced with the extent of the concerns raised about this amendment⁷, the Quebec government chose to do an about-face by enacting, in the final version of the Amendment Regulation, that a French version of a “recognized” trademark that does not appear in CIPO’s trademark register will continue to be exempt from certain language obligations provided under the Charter, as amended by Act 14, although subject to a number of conditions⁸.

While this step back by the Quebec government is welcomed by owners of trademarks written in a language other than French and who do business in the province, there are nonetheless many nuances to be considered. We invite you to read the next sections of this articles to familiarize yourself with these nuances.

2- Product Inscriptions

Summary: As of June 1, 2024, a “recognized” trademark drawn up in whole or in part in a language other than French can appear alone on a product in this other language insofar as no corresponding French version appears in the register of trademarks maintained by CIPO. But, if the trademark in another language contains a “generic term” or a “description”, this text must appear in French on the product or on a medium permanently attached to it.

Under the Charter, “[e]very inscription on a product, on its container or on its wrapping, or on a document or object supplied with it, including the directions for use and the warranty certificates, must be drafted in French“⁹. This rule also applies to inscriptions on menus and wine lists¹⁰. The Charter also provides for the possibility that the French inscription may be accompanied by a translation or translations, but no inscription in another language can (i) be given greater prominence than the inscription in French or (ii) be available on more favorable terms than the one in French¹¹.

As of June 1, 2024, “recognized” trademarks drawn up in whole or in part in a language other than French can appear on a product in this other language alone (without a translation in French¹²). But the following nuances are applicable: (i) the exception does not apply if a corresponding version of the trademark appears in CIPO’s trademark; and (ii) if a “description” or a “generic term” is included in the trademark, a French translation must appear on the product or on a medium permanently attached to it¹³.

The terms “description” and “generic term” are defined as follows in the “Amendment Regulation”:

• A description refers to one or more words describing the characteristics of a product, and

• A generic term refers to one or more words describing the nature of a product.¹⁴

The provisions of the Amendment Regulation specifies that the following expressions do not constitute a “description” or a “generic term”: (1) the name of the enterprise; (2) the name of the product as sold; (3) designations of origin; and (4) distinctive names of a cultural nature¹⁵.

For example: A company markets toothpaste in Quebec under the trademark “Happy Teeth & Dessin”, which is registered in Canada (with no corresponding version in CIPO’s trademarks register). On toothpaste packaging, the product name (“Happy Teeth”), description (“Toothpaste”), flavor (“Mint Flavor”), and product features (“Whitening – Gum Care” and “Dentists trusts this product”) are written in English. All these elements are part of the figurative trademark registered in Canada. Under the new regulations, the “Happy Teeth” trademark (and product name) can continue to appear on the product (and packaging) without a French translation. However, all other elements of the registered trademark that appear on the English-language packaging are “descriptions” (“Toothpaste”) or “generic terms” (all the other elements), and they must appear in French on the product or on any medium permanently attached to the product. The following images published by the OQLF illustrate one way of complying with these new rules, namely the addition of a French translation of the descriptions and generic terms on one side of the container in which the tube of toothpaste is sold:

It is worth mentioning that the notion of “medium permanently attached” is not defined in the final version of the Regulation. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) and the courts will be called upon to interpret this expression.

All products marketed in Quebec must comply with the new regulations as of June 1, 2025¹⁶. Nevertheless, products that are non-compliant can be distributed, retailed, leased, offered for sale or lease, or otherwise offered on the market until June 1, 2027, if both conditions that follow are met: (i) the product was manufactured before June 1, 2025, and (ii) no French-language version of the product’s recognized trademark was registered as of June 26, 2024¹⁷. The grace period also applies to non-compliant products manufactured between June 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025¹⁸ that are subject to new federal labeling rules set out in the Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Nutrition Symbols, Other Labelling Provisions, Vitamin D and Hydrogenated Fats or Oils)¹⁹ or the Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations and the Cannabis Regulations (Supplemented Foods)²⁰.

3- Public Signs and Posters and Commercial Advertising

Summary: As of June 1, 2025, public signs and posters and commercial advertising where a trademark written in a language other than French is “visible from outside premises” will have to ensure a “marked predominance of French”, i.e. the text written in French must have, for the same visual field, a “much greater visual impact” than the text written in another language. To achieve this, the text written in French (which can be in the form of a generic term, a description or a slogan, among others) must (i) be at least twice as large as the space allotted to the text in another language, and (ii) the French text’s legibility and permanent visibility must be equivalent to those of the text in another language.

The expressions “public signs and posters” and “commercial advertising” are not defined in the Charter nor in the Regulation. The notion of “public signs and posters” is to be understood as referring to the expression of a message in a public place by means of any medium²¹. As for the concept of “commercial advertising”, it is defined as follows in the Grand dictionnaire terminologique de l’OQLF: “[Our translation] a message promoting, among other things, a good, service or activity, generally for profit, or a company or trademark, in order to increase its notoriety”²². As such, commercial advertising is a type of message that can be publicly displayed.

In principle, public signs and posters and commercial advertising must be in French. Nonetheless, they can be made both in French and in another language if the French text appears in a “markedly predominant” manner²³. Until June 1, 2025, the marked predominance of French means that, where texts both in French and in another language appear on the same sign or poster, (i) the space allotted to the text in French is at least twice as large as the space allotted to the text in the other language and (ii) the characters used in the French text are at least twice as large as those in the text in the other language²⁴. 

Still until June 1, 2025, one of the exceptions to the principle described above concerns “recognized” trademarks, which may be written only in a language other than French on public signs and posters and in commercial advertising, provided that no French version of these trademarks has been registered in the CIPO’s trademark register²⁵. This exception will continue to apply as of June 1, 2025, to “recognized” trademarks for which no corresponding French version “appears” in CIPO’s trademark register (the term “appears” suggests that it would be sufficient for an application for registration to have been filed with CIPO’ trademark register to thwart the application of the exception)²⁶.

However, as of June 1, 2025, businesses displaying public signs and posters with a “recognized” trademark in a language other than French that is “visible from outside the premises” will have to ensure a “marked predominance” of French in such public signs or posters²⁷:

• First, public signs and posters will be considered “visible from outside premises” when they can be seen : (1) from outside a space, closed or not, including on an immovable, a group of immovables or inside a shopping centre or (2) on a bollard or other independent structure, including a pylon sign except, in the latter case, where more than two trademarks or enterprise names appear on the public signs and posters²⁸.
  

• And secondly, the “marked predominance” of French is assessed according to the importance of the visual impact of the text written in French compared to the visual impact of the text written in another language. A text written in French will be considered to have sufficient visual impact to ensure the “marked predominance” of French when, within the same visual field²⁹, the following two conditions are met : (1) the space allotted to the French text is at least twice as large as the space allotted to the text in another language; (2) the French text’s legibility and permanent visibility are equivalent to those of the text in another language³⁰.

As such, the Amendment Regulation clearly establishes that the “marked predominance” of French depends on the space occupied by the French text in the visual field where the trademark appears rather than on the font size of the French text.  This clarification gives concerned businesses some leeway in how they wish to satisfy the requirement of “marked predominance” for the French language. On this subject, the OQFL published a few images to illustrate some of the options available to affected businesses:

It is important to note that certain elements will not be taken into account when assessing the “marked predominance” of French, such as business hours, telephone numbers, addresses, numbers, percentages or definite, indefinite and partitive articles³¹.

4- Commercial Publications

Summary: As of June 1, 2025, “recognized” trademarks in a language other than French that appear on a product in this other language can continue to appear in commercial publications (without a French translation) provided that no French version of these trademarks has been registered.

Commercial publications include catalogues, brochures, folders, commercial directories, order forms and any other documents of the same nature (including websites) available to the public³².

The Charter establishes that commercial publications must be drafted in French. A version drafted in a language other than French can be made available to the public provided that the material presentation of the French version is available under no less favourable conditions of accessibility and quality than the version in the other language³³.

Also, “recognized” trademarks in a language other than French can appear in commercial publications (without a French translation), provided that no French version of these trademarks has been registered³⁴. This exception will continue to apply as of June 1, 2025, since  Act 14 and the Amendment Regulation do not provide for any amendments in this respect.

5- Penal and Administrative Penalties

Summary:  Act 14 significantly increased (as of June 1, 2022) (i) the powers conferred on the OQLF to carry out its mission of ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Charter and its implementing regulations, and (ii) the range of measures and sanctions to which the OQLF may have recourse in the exercise of its statutory functions. The significant increase in the amount of the fines that can be imposed in the event of failure to comply with any of the obligations provided for by the Charter or the Regulation should be emphasized.

The OQFL may carry out inspections and investigations to verify that a business complies with the provisions of the Charter³⁵, either of its own accord or following receipt of a complaint or denunciation³⁶. If the OQFL finds that the provisions of the Charter (or Regulation) have been breached, it can issue binding orders against the business concerned³⁷. The OQLF may also apply to the Quebec Superior Court for an injunction to enforce the Charter³⁸.

Since June 1, 2022, the business that contravenes an order issued by the OQLF commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $700 to $7,000 in the case of a natural person and $3,000 to $30,000 in all other cases³⁹. The Charter, as amended by Act 14, now provides that “the minimum and maximum fines prescribed by this Act are doubled for a second offence and tripled for a third or subsequent offence” and that “if an offence⁴⁰ under this Act continues for more than one day, it constitutes a separate offence for each day it continues⁴¹.”

In the same vein, the OQLF now has the power to recommend to the Minister of the French Language of Quebec that a permit or authorization of the same nature be suspended or revoked when the business that holds it “repeatedly” contravenes the provisions of the Charter⁴².

6- Practical Considerations

If you are own a business using a trademark written in a language other than French on Quebec territory, here are some practical considerations related to the content of this article:

1. Inscriptions on a product, on its container or on its wrapping, or on a document or object supplied with it, including the directions for use and the warranty certificates, must be drafted in French.

• If you market products under a trademark written in a language other than French, you should retain the services of a lawyer specialized in trademark law to verify that the inscriptions on these products (and their containers, packaging, as well as the documentation or objects accompanying them) comply with the new regulations applicable as of June 1, 2025.

• If you market products under a trademark written in a language other than French, take the necessary steps to comply with the conditions allowing you to benefit from the grace period for disposing of your inventory of non-compliant products between June 1, 2025, and June 1, 2027.
  

2. Public signs and posters and commercial advertising

• If your trademark in a language other than French appears on a public display “visible from outside the premises”, you should retain the services of a lawyer specialized in trademark law to ensure that the public display complies with the new regulations applicable as of June 1, 2025.
  

3. General considerations

• Filing an application to register the French version of your trademark could compromise your right to use any version of this trademark in a language other than French in Quebec.

• Consider filing an application to register each of your trademarks in a language other than French to make it easier to prove that they are “recognized” trademarks in the event of inspection, investigation or litigation. On this subject, we refer you to our article Registration of a trademark in Canada: The Essentials, updated in April 2024.
  

The authors would like to thank law student Florence Nadeau for her help in writing this article.

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[1] Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec (2022, chapter 14), sanctioned on June 1, 2022.

[2] Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, enacted by Gouvernement du Québec O.C. 1000-2024.

[3] Charter of the French Language, CQLR, c. C-11.

[4] Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, CQLR, c. C-11, r. 9.

[5] Id., par. 13(1)4) and 25(1)4).

[6] Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 1, sec. 43 et 48.

[7] See, in particular, the following article from La Presse Canadienne (published on Radio Canada’s website) on the concerns raised by the U.S. government regarding the impact of Act 14 on U.S. companies, https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2044965/affichage-commercial-francais-biden-preoccupations [In French, Online].

[8] Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 2, sec. 2 and 4. 

[9] Charter of the French Language, supra, note 3, par. 51(1).

[10] Id.

[11] Id., par. 51(2). 

[12] Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 2, sec. 2.

[13] Id.

[14] Id., sec. 6.  

[15] Id.

[16] Id., sec. 9.

[17] Id., sec. 7.

[18] Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 2, par. 7(2).

[19] Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Nutrition Symbols, Other Labelling Provisions, Vitamin D and Hydrogenated Fats or Oils) (SOR/2022- 168)

[20] Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations and the Cannabis Regulations (Supplemented Foods) (SOR/2022-169).

[21] See, in particular, Québec (Procureure générale) v. Magasins Best Buy ltée, 2015 QCCA 747 [in French], par. 11, in which the Québec Court of Appeal established that the expression “public display” must be interpreted broadly.

[22] Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique, expression « publicité commerciale », https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/26545180/publicite-commerciale [In French, Online].

[23] Charter of the French Language, supra, note 3, par. 58(2).

[24] Regulation defining the scope of the expression “markedly predominant” for the purposes of the Charter of the French language, CQLR c C-11, r 11,sec. 2. This Regulation will be repealed on June 1, 2025, by section 8 of the Amendment Regulation.

[25] Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 4, par. 25(1)4). 

[26] Amendment Regulation to amend mainly the Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 2, sec. 4.

[27] Id.

[28] Id., sec. 6.

[29] Id. A “same visual field” refers to an overall view where all the components of the public display are visible and legible at the same time, without the need to move around. 

[30] Id.

[31] Id.

[32] Charter of the French language, supra, note 3, al. 52(1). See also the following OQLF publication concerning the qualification of a website’s advertising content as a “commercial publication”: https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/francisation/entreprises/sites.html [In French, Online].

[33] Id., par. 52(2) et Règlement sur la langue du commerce et des affaires, supra, note 4, al. 10(1).   

[34] Regulation respecting the language of commerce and business, supra, note 4, par. 13(1)4).   

[35] Charter of the French language, supra, note 3, sec. 166.

[36] Id., sec. 166.15 to 166.23.

[37] Id., sec. 177.

[38] Id., sec. 183.

[39] Id., sec. 205.

[40] Id., sec. 207 par. 1.

[41] Id., sec. 208.0.1.

[42] Id., sec. 204.28.