ARTICLE
12 August 2026

Doing Business In Canada: Protecting Luxury Brands From Counterfeiting (Part 4)

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Aird & Berlis LLP

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Aird & Berlis LLP is a leading Canadian law firm, serving clients across Canada and globally. With strong national and international expertise, the firm’s lawyers and business advisors provide strategic legal advice across all areas of business law to clients ranging from entrepreneurs to multinational corporations.
Canada's anti-counterfeiting enforcement framework places the burden on rights holders to protect luxury brands through civil proceedings, criminal enforcement, and customs detention. This article examines the practical enforcement mechanisms available after counterfeit activity is identified, including injunctions, evidence preservation, destruction orders, and monetary relief, while analyzing recent Canadian precedents that guide enforcement strategy.
Canada Intellectual Property
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This article is Part 4 of Protecting Luxury Brands From Counterfeiting, a four-part series on the legal and practical issues luxury brands most often face when operating in or selling to Canada. Part 1 addressed the upstream question of legal and operational readiness. Part 2 turned to the border itself: the statutory framework, the operational mechanics of the Canada Border Services Agency Intellectual Property Rights Program and the response planning a luxury brand should have in place before a detention occurs. Part 3 addressed issues international brands commonly face when counterfeit goods are promoted or sold through online marketplaces, social media accounts, websites and abusive domain names. Part 4 focuses on what enforcement looks like after counterfeit activity is identified, including civil proceedings, criminal options, customs detention and recent Canadian precedents that provide guidance..

Canada’s anti-counterfeiting enforcement framework is largely rights-holder driven. As the main tool, civil proceedings allow the brand to control timing, seek injunctions, preserve evidence, obtain destruction orders and pursue monetary relief. Criminal enforcement and customs detention can be powerful, but usually require strong evidentiary background, co-ordination and a clear commercial-scale or public-interest basis.

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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