On May 4, 2016, Hélène David, Québec’s acting Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister Responsible for the Protection and Promotion of French Language, proposed draft regulations to require English-only trademarks appearing on signs or posters outside buildings and structures in Québec to be accompanied by the presence of French language.
The proposed regulations would require businesses in Québec to include one of the following in French on signs containing English-only trademarks (section 25.1 of the draft regulations):
- A generic term or a description of the products or services concerned;
- A slogan; or
- Any other term or indication, favouring the display of information pertaining to the products or services to the benefit of consumers or persons frequenting the site.
These regulations follow a decision from the Québec Court of Appeal (reported in the E-TIPS® newsletter here) that upheld a lower court decision which found that, under the current regulations, no French-language generic identifier was required on signs containing English-only trademarks.
Any person wishing to comment on the draft regulations is requested to submit written comments to the Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister Responsible for the Protection and Promotion of French Language by June 18, 2016.