trademark, canada, domain-nameIs it possible to use the logo and domain name of an old company that went out of business? Specifically, would that be legal?
I already own the domain name that the previous company dropped.
The previous business was registered in France and I’m going to register new business in Canada, and the type of business will be different.
The answer is probably yes. It depends a bit on how long it’s been since the first company went under, but you should be fine anyway since you’re in different places geographically (unless they did business in Canada, maybe). The fact that the business type is different helps, too.
I’m not too familiar with Canadian trademark law, admittedly, but essentially the general goal is to protect consumers from confusion. The fact that your business is in a different region and specialty will help with that. If you grabbed up the name of the previous business within days of it going under, that might be confusing, but it sounds like that isn’t the case here.
So from a legality standpoint, it sounds fine.
That said, I’d watch out for two little things. I’m sure you’ve thought of these, but I figure they’re worth mentioning.
If you intend to use the logo and/or name in Canada you should also check within the CIPO database to see the availability of the trademark and/or if there are similar ones being used, even if you don't intend to file for a trademark. In the eyes of the law, it's all about who has the rights and what they can do to enforce those rights. You can search for free on the CIPO site, or alternate sites such as Umark.ca or other service providers. Applying for a trademark is definitely something you should consider if you intend to sell or market your services throughout Canada. It may not be a costly as you think it is.
Everything that Matthew said.
From my understanding there are no legal issues with the domain. If the domain lapsed (which it obviously did for you to buy it) they effectively gave up control. If they were still active I'd be leary of using it anyways just because it could lead to civil litigation (which even with you being within your legal rights could still be an annoyance/cost/etc).
The logo though is much more challenging. As well as trademark issue you also have copyright. Both France and Canada are signatories to the Berne copyright convention along with other international copyright agreements. Therefore copyright is pretty much automatic between them. Which means that the logo itself may have a copyright on it depending on uniqueness etc. Also the company that was using it may have licensed it or purchased the right to use it but not the full rights; or they could have purchased the full rights and those rights could have been deeded to someone else when they shut down. Given that they are shut down you are unlikely to have anyone complain but there is a distinct risk that it is not legal to use the logo.
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