Michelle Noonan

The defendant Ryan Dean brought a motion for summary judgment to remove himself as a party to an action involving alleged trademark infringement by CICC.

The plaintiff alleged Dean was personally liable for sending a letter soliciting members to join CICC.

The Court dismissed the motion, finding genuine issues for trial regarding Dean's role within CICC, the transmission of the letter, and its impact, which required credibility assessments.

The applicant appealed a Trademarks Opposition Board decision dismissing its opposition to the respondent's trademark application for "THIS WAY TO CPA".

The applicant argued the mark was unregistrable because it too nearly resembled its official mark "CPA".

The Federal Court held the standard of review was palpable and overriding error and found no such error in the Board's conclusion that the words "THIS WAY TO" adequately distinguished the marks.