Advocis, IAFP brand battle continues

For seven years, the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners (IAFP) and Advocis have been battling over branding.

The Trademarks Opposition Board ruled in the IAFP’s favour this month, for the second time overall, regarding Advocis’s Institute for Advanced Financial Education.

“The decision confirms that Advocis encroached on the IAFP’s trademark, likely creating confusion in Canada through the branding and public use of the name Institute for Advanced Financial Education (IAFE),” the IAFP said in a Monday release.

In December of last year, the board ruled that there was a “reasonable likelihood of confusion” because of “the high degree of similarity between the trademarks and the overlap in the nature of the parties’ goods and services,” the release said.

One concern is both the IAFP and IAFE “have overlapping membership, grant professional designations and provide education for financial advisors and financial planners.”

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The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.