On December 22, 1993 amendments were made to the Charter of the French Language, i.e. the law in Quebec that required all "inscriptions" including trademarks placed on products, and on product labels, containers and wrapping, to be in the French language. Since 1977, when the Charter was enacted, goods sold in Quebec could bear English-language trademarks only if used in conjunction with equally prominent French versions of such marks. Violators were subject to fines, but there have been relatively few prosecutions.
The amendments now allow the use of English-language "inscriptions" without their French equivalents; these "inscriptions" include:
2) Firm names of enterprises established exclusively outside Quebec; and
3) Names of origin or of foreign products or specialties, or noncommercial mottos.
However, trademark owners are cautioned that, while they may find it less burdensome not to be required to use French equivalents of their marks on their products, they may well be afforded a greater measure of trademark protection in Quebec by continuing to do so. The reason for this is that the courts have in some instances held French-language trademarks that were close translations of English-language trademarks not to be confusingly similar to the latter.
June 1994 Index