Alberta court bans station from using Corus trademark legacy

An Alberta court has sided with Corus Entertainment Inc. in banning the use of the broadcaster’s lapsed trademark by a radio station that just rebranded this summer. Power 107 is a pop music station run by Calgary-based Harvard Broadcasting Inc. that launched in August as a rebrand from Hot 107 in Edmonton. Now, the broadcaster is looking for a new name after the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta ruled Monday that its use of the word “Power” piggybacked on the success of Corus’ expired trademark and harmed its ability to leverage the name to re-enter the Edmonton market. “So long as and for as long as Harvard is in the market as POWER 107, Corus cannot deploy its asset, being the goodwill it holds in its brand and reputation,” the court found. “The injury to Corus from Harvard’s actions extends beyond loss of revenue associated with loss of listenership. “The goodwill of the business, the reputation on which it trades, will be damaged,” the decision said, adding Corus would suffer irreparable harm if the ban is not granted. When asked for comment, Harvard pointed to a press release on its website saying it will not appeal the decision -- despite saying it believes it has a case -- and asking listeners to help it find a new name. The case was heard on November 8. Founded in 1999, Corus acquired a number of stations from Western International Communications Ltd. (WIC), including Power 107 in Calgary, Power 92 in Edmonton, and Power 97 in Winnipeg. It also acquired a number of those trademarks with the Power name. Corus, however, failed to renew the Power 92 and Power 107 trademarks, which were automatically terminated in 2015. It hadn’t used the Power 92 name since 2004, the court found. But the balance favoured Corus because Harvard was attempting to draw success on the nostalgia of the Power brand built by Corus over many years, the court said. For example, the court noted that Harvard’s press release announcing the rebrand made mention of how “familiar” the brand is. “Based on the evidence presented and the law regarding copyright, I am satisfied that Corus’ claims of copyright infringement present a serious issue to be tried, both as to the similarity of the POWER 92 Logo with Harvard’s POWER 107 logo, and Harvard’s re-posting of a POWER 92 advertisement that contains the POWER 92 Logo,” the decision added. Corus did not respond to a request for comment. Harvard had argued that if a ban is ordered, it would suffer an undetermined amount of damages. It said it had spent just over a quarter of a million dollars on the marketing and launch of Power 107. The court specifically noted the fact that Corus’ trademark on Power had lapsed and the “not insignificant” costs to Harvard if a ban is ordered as “factors that weigh in favour of denying Corus’ application.” However, it said the damage to Corus would be great. “I have considered and weighed the fact that Harvard employees involved in the decision to rebrand the 107.1 station to POWER 107 anticipated that listeners from the 90s and 2000s would remember POWER 92,” the decision said. It continued: “they designed the POWER 107 logo fully aware of the appearance of the POWER 92 Logo; and they investigated the trademark registry and weighed the risks associated with using the POWER name and the POWER 107 logo.” Harvard drew “connections” between Power 92 and 107 “by its promotions, advertising and on-air comments, and by ‘liking’ ‘re-tweeting’ and ‘re-posting’ the connections drawn by the listening public,” the decision said. The judge also found that Harvard’s rebrand launch was done in such secrecy that it deprived Corus of the ability to challenge the company before it went on the air with the name.

Alberta court bans station from using Corus trademark legacy

Brief | November 19, 2019

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Alberta court bans station from using Corus trademark legacy

Brief | November 19, 2019

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