Date: May 25, 2016
Jake Bullen and Shane Hardy Quoted on New Trend in M&A Acquiring Brands & Trademarks
Publish: 10/02/2014
Partners Jake Bullen and Shane Hardy were quoted in an article titled "Desire for Brands and Trademarks
Reflects New Trend in Merger and Acquisitions Deals" published on October 2, 2014, in the Financial Post.
Writes Drew Hasselback: "Canada is about to overhaul its trademark regime, and one of the coming changes
reflects a new trend in the M&A world: trademarks are marketable assets, and more companies want the law
to make it easier to buy and sell them."
"This is a very interesting trend ... I've seen an uptick in these brand deals," says Jake, who goes on to note
that this trend has been on his radar for a while now.
Drew goes on to explain that traditionally, "Canadian law has not looked fondly at proposed deals in which a
vendor might carve out and sell a single mark without also selling the associated marks." However, "this will
change at the end of 2015 or in early 2016, when amendments to Canada's Trade-marks Act are expected to
come into force."
Shane Hardy see this change as "an acknowledgment in the law that buying and selling trademarks is
something that happens much more often now ... We should have legislation that keeps pace with what the
business world is actually doing."
For the full story, please click here.