'owners' the right to exclude others from using it. Passing off The primary means of protecting registered trademarks is through an action under the Trademarks Act. For unregistered trademarks, the common law tort of passing off is the primary means by which producers can obtain remedies against a competitor. Section 7(b) and 7(c) of the Trademarks Act also codifies the tort of passing off into federal law. Most of the law of passing off has been inherited from the UK case law. For a successful action in passing off the claimant must show three things: the existence of goodwill or reputation within an identifiable market area, the other party's use of the mark constitutes misrepresentation of their wares as those of the claimants, and the misrepresentation could potentially or actually did cause harm. Trademark registration A mark must be registrable in order to be fully protected under the Trademarks Act. Generally, all visual marks can be registered with the exception of marks that possess certain characteristics prohibited by the Act. Among the prohibited characteristics include: marks that are "primarily merely" a name or family name marks that can produce confusion with another vendor's mark marks that are "clearly descriptive" or "deceptively misdescriptive" of the associated wares or services any government, royal, or international marks Advantages of trademark registration According to section 19 of the Act the owner of a valid registered trade mark has the exclusive right to the mark's use throughout Canada in respect of the wares or services for which it is registered. Section 20 provides that no unapproved person may sell, distribute, or advertise wares or services in association with a confusing trademark or trade name and section 22 further prohibits a non-owner from using a registered mark in any manner likely to deteriorate the value of the goodwill attached to the mark. The common law protects marks by recognizing the owner's right to exclusive uses, subject to the geographical and market boundaries of the owner's established trade reputation. Registration also allows the owner to register in other countries that adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Duration and termination A duly registered trademark is valid for fifteen years and may be renewed in perpetuity, making it the only form of intellectual property with statutory protections that do not definitively expire. However, sections 44 and 45 of the Act permit the registrar to