- Parties: The appellant was Jean-Louis Vill. The respondent was Bell Canada.

- Subject Matter: The applicant opposed the registration of the trademark EBOX TV in association with services providing Internet access, Internet telephony, web hosting, and assistance and troubleshooting in the event of network failure. The Trademarks Opposition Board rejected the opposition. The Board concluded that the applicant failed to discharge his initial burden of proof to show that he used the IBOX TV mark in association with his goods and services before the day he filed his application for registration of the EBOX TV trademark. The applicant appealed the Board’s decision.

- Ruling: The court ruled in the respondent’s favour and dismissed the appeal. The court saw no reason to vary the Board’s decision. The court held that, even if there was a de novo analysis of the evidence, the appellant failed to meet his initial burden of proving that he had used, in Canada and in the normal course of trade, the IBOX TV trademark in association with his goods and services and was continuing to do so at the time of publication of the respondent’s registration application.

- Date: The hearing was set on May 17, 2023. The court released its decision on June 14, 2023.

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court.

- Amount: The court awarded the respondent costs in the amount of $3,000 in the exercise of its discretion and in consideration of the small size of the appellant’s company.