# Official mark

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{{Short description|Canadian intellectual property law}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
An '''official mark''' (sometimes denoted by the symbols <sup>OM</sup>, <sup>M</sup>, or Ⓜ{{citation needed|date=December 2025}}) is a form of [intellectual property](/source/intellectual_property) which exists in [Canada](/source/Canada) under section 9 of the [Trade-marks Act](/source/Trade-marks_Act), which allows for the protection of names and designs used by Canadian public authorities (including governments and government agencies, [Crown corporation](/source/Crown_corporations_of_Canada)s, and certain [nonprofit organization](/source/nonprofit_organization)s) for goods or services.

Official marks are not themselves [trademark](/source/trademark)s, but are a subtype of another category of marks defined in the Trade-marks Act known as "prohibited marks". The Act states that no one can use, in connection with a business, any trademark identical or confusingly similar to a prohibited mark without the permission of the relevant organization.

Like trademarks, official marks (and other prohibited marks) are filed with the [Canadian Intellectual Property Office](/source/Canadian_Intellectual_Property_Office) to be published in the ''[Trademarks Journal](/source/Trademarks_Journal)''  and are searchable through the Canadian Trade-marks Database.

Unlike Canadian trademarks, official marks do not have to be associated with specific categories of goods or services, and they may only be invalidated on the basis that the holder was not actually a Canadian public authority,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/55354/Trademark/Official+Mark+Developments|title=Official Mark Developments|first=Anthony|last=Prenol|work=Blakes Bulletin on Intellectual Property|date=2007-12-13|accessdate=2016-12-04}}</ref> or was not publicly using the mark at the time of public notice via the ''[Trademarks Journal](/source/Trademarks_Journal)''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smart-biggar.ca/en/articles_detail.cfm?news_id=484|title=Official marks — a uniquely Canadian concept|first=Mark|last=Pidowich|publisher=[Smart & Biggar](/source/Smart_%26_Biggar)|date=2011-07-27|accessdate=2016-12-04}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/T-13/page-2.html#h-3 Trade-marks Act] R.S.C., 1985, c. T-13, s. 9

Category:Canadian trademark law
Category:Canadian intellectual property law

{{Canada-law-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Official mark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_mark) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_mark?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.