Trademarks are the best way to protect words, phrases, and logos, in most countries.
Trademarks are registered on a country by country basis, except in Europe where you may register a EU Community trademark or a trademark in one or more EU countries. There is no such thing as a global trademark, but there is a way to file a single trademark application and obtain a registration in multiple countries that you select using the Madrid protocol. Canada doesn’t participate in the Madrid protocol.
In Canada, you may register a trademark to protect the following types of marks:
- A word,
- A phrase,
- A logo,
- A colour or collage of colours, and
- Sounds,
if the mark is used to identify the source of a product or service.