NARRATOR: Karen owns a small company making and selling plush toys for kids. Karen just received her trademark registration for SOFT FRIENDY.

NARRATOR: Karen just received an email from her trademark agent.

KAREN: Blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah... Oh, here is where it gets important: in Canada, trademark registration is valid for 15 years from the registration date, and can be renewed indefinitely for further 15 year periods.

KAREN: 15 years is a loooong time!

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Hello Karen, your trademark is due to be renewed. We need your instructions. Please call me back as soon as possible.

KAREN: Oh no, I forgot to tell my lawyer to renew my trademark.

KAREN: Hello, this is Karen I was away and forgot to tell you to renew my mark. Did I just lose my precious brand?

TRADEMARK FACTORY: It's good that you got back to me now. Because you did not renew your trademark before the expiration of the 15-year deadline, a Renewal Notice was issued that gives you a 6-months grace period to request renewal and pay the fee.

KAREN: So we're still within the 6-months grace period?

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Yes. Otherwise, you'd need to file your trademark application from scratch and someone could beat you to it. But we caught it just in time!

KAREN: I am so relieved. Let's renew.

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Are you still the owner of the mark?

KAREN: Yes, why are you asking?

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Well, if a trademark is sold to another company or another individual, then before the renewal is filed we would need to properly record an assignment. But this is a whole other topic.

KAREN: No, I still own the mark.

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Great. To renew your registration, you will need to pay the government fees.

KAREN: Is it expensive?

TRADEMARK FACTORY: The government fee for an online renewal is $350 per trademark.

KAREN: So a $350 fee buys me another 15 years of protection?

TRADEMARK FACTORY: Amazing, isn't it?

KAREN [dreamily]: Yeah!