Fraud on the Trademark Office in the U.S. and Canada
Published in the Illinois State Bar Association Intellectual Property Newsletter, May 2009

Recent decisions by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board have imposed a virtual "strict liability" standard on declarations of use, resulting in registrations being invalidated in whole or in substantial part even where there was some evidence that the misstatement was due to lack of understanding or inattention rather than the result of an attempt to mislead the Trademark Office. The Federal Court of Canada was recently invited to import the U.S. treatment of the fraud issue, but declined to do so.