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Canada has a statutory regulation to protect against the misuse of the title ‘engineer’
Professional association Engineers Canada has lost a legal case seeking to prevent a recruitment firm from using the term ‘engineering’ as part of its trademarked name.
In a rare decision, the Federal Court of Appeal in Canada held that Kelly Engineering Services could trademark its name, despite Engineers Canada’s previous attempts to stop the firm on the grounds that the use of the term ‘engineering’ was “deceptively misdescriptive” in nature.
Engineers Canada represents the provincial and territorial bodies that regulate engineering in Canada and license the country’s 260,000 professional engineers. Canada is the only country to have statutory regulation to protect against the misuse of the title ‘engineer’ or the term ‘engineering’.
Both Engineers Canada and its 12 provincial member associations actively defend against the misuse of the title ‘engineer’ and the term ‘engineering’, using legal teams funded by member subscriptions. The national body deals with cases that involve national trademarks and businesses, while the associations deal with misuse on a local and individual level.
The organisation, which recently changed its name from the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, trademarked ‘engineer’ and ‘engineering’, and the French-language equivalents, around 25 years ago so it could more actively prevent the misuse of the terms.
Kim Allen, chief executive of Engineers Canada, said: “In Canada, the paramount obligation of engineers is to protect the public interest. Using a trademark or business name that incorporates ‘engineering’ gives the public the message that the services are offered by licensed engineers. Otherwise, the public is misled as to the qualifications of those offering engineering services.”
The organisation has successfully opposed the registration of around 30 trademarks, although it said that once it opposes a registration it is “pretty rare” for a case to progress to the end. It has also entered about 100 consensual agreements to authorise the use of ‘engineer’ and ‘engineering’. Other examples where it has failed in its opposition include the trademark ‘Comsol Engineering Lab’ for software and the trademark ‘Engineering excellence is our heritage’, by automotive firm Continental Teves.
Engineers Canada intends to continue defending the title ‘engineer’. “We will continue our work to ensure ‘engineering’ is used only by those licensed to use it,” said Allen. “We have to ensure the public is protected.”
The UK’s regulatory body, the Engineering Council, does not actively oppose trademarks or defend against the misuse of the term ‘engineering’ or title ‘engineer’, because there are no statutory regulations for this.
However, it does pursue the unauthorised use of the titles ‘EngTech’, ‘IEng’, ‘CEng’ and ‘ICTTech’, which are protected under a royal charter and bye-laws and by a European directive.
According to the Engineering Council: “There is a range of practice across different countries, and surveys suggest the UK approach is in the middle of the spectrum.”