Canada Cooperatives Regulations

15 (1) Subject to subsection (2), and for the purpose of paragraph 23(a) of the Act and these Regulations, a cooperative name is prohibited if the cooperative name is not distinctive because it is

• (a) only descriptive, in any language, of the business of the cooperative, of the goods and services in which the cooperative deals or intends to deal, or of the quality, function or other characteristic of those goods and services;

• (b) primarily or only the name or surname, used alone, of an individual who is living or has died within 30 years before the date of the request to the Director for that name; or

• (c) primarily or only a geographic name, used alone.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if a person requesting the reservation of a cooperative name establishes that it has, through use, acquired and continues at the time of the request to have secondary meaning.