By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
Bill 96, now Law 14, French-language provisions regarding commercial signs and packaging are now in effect.The provisions include:
• “A business name that contains a specific (store name) in a language other than French and that appears in a display visible from outside a premises must be accompanied by terms in French – such as a generic, a description or a slogan – that will ensure a clear predominance of French. The same applies to a recognized trademark that is entirely or partially in a language other than French and that appears in a display visible from outside a premises. A display visible from outside a premises is a display that can be seen: from outside a space, whether enclosed or not; · on a building or group of buildings; · inside a shopping centre; ·on a terminal or any other independent structure, including a pylon sign.”
The Quebec government has provided examples of what does and does not comply with the new provisions — the description of the enterprise and its English name cannot be equal in size, the description can be larger than the store name, the store name can be the same size as the French descriptor and a French slogan; and several French descriptors can be the same size as the English store name.
• “Trademarks may be written in whole or in part only in a language other than French if no French version of these trademarks has been registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). If there is a French version of the trademark registered with CIPO, this French version must be displayed both inside and outside premises. A business that displays the French version of its business name or trademark and the version in a language other than French at the same time must ensure that, in the same field of vision, the rule of clear predominance of French is respected throughout the display.”
• The government further explains that the clear predominance of French is not required in the display of a business name or trademark when this display is “inside a premises and cannot be seen from the outside; is on a vehicle; is on a terminal or any other independent structure, including a pylon sign type, which includes more than two business names or trademarks. However, the business name must always be accompanied by a generic term in French.”
In terms of products, such descriptors as ingredients, colour, fragrances “must also appear in French on the product or on a medium permanently associated with it. The name under which the product is marketed and the name of the company may remain only in another language.” From what we’ve seen, most products sold in Canadian stores have bilingual descriptions.
• There is also a two-year transition period: “Until June 1, 2027, a product bearing a trademark that contains a generic or descriptive term only in a language other than French, or that contains a generic or descriptive term only part of which is only in a language other than French, may be marketed if it: was manufactured before June 1, 2025, and no French version of the trademark has been filed as of June 26, 2024; or was manufactured between June 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, and is subject to the new labelling standards set out in the Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations.”
Fines range from $3,000 to $30,000 a day of there is non-compliance after a written warning from the OQLF to follow the law. n