Elfi Maldonado, co-founder of Qantu , cocoa and chocolate

An industrial engineer with a master's degree in logistics from École Polytechnique de Montréal, Elfi Maldonado founded her company after visiting a cocoa plantation in Peru. With her husband, Maxime Simard, she makes bean-to-bar chocolate to honor the ancestral cocoa of her native country. The couple regularly visits cocoa plantations in Latin America to develop sustainable partnerships with producers. "I go there for each harvest," says the 34-year-old chocolatier. "For me, each cocoa bean is like a jewel that I choose with care. My nose and my palate guide me in choosing my microlots, my vintage of the year." Just a few months after launching their bars, Qantu stood out by winning two gold medals and a silver medal at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London. "We grow at our own pace, without rushing too much. "I want people to continue to appreciate a rarer product than to launch into too large a volume and lose quality." As a good engineer, Elfi Maldonado is now focusing on improving production processes, but also on diversifying her products.

How to protect your brand?

Solutions from the Quebec School of Entrepreneurs

Branding expresses a company's identity and its differentiation. While it may seem logical to patent an invention, the start-up entrepreneur may wonder: is it necessary to protect his brand against all odds?

First, it is important to distinguish between the main forms of intellectual property.

• Copyright (for an artistic work)

• The patent (for an invention)

• Industrial design (for a manufactured object that is not an invention)

• The trademark (this is a name and/or visual identity)

Where to start?

Before you even invest in developing a logo with your business name or in marketing materials that carry your brand image, it can be useful to validate whether there is a company registered under the same name.

If so, you may be in a situation of infringement, which could lead to legal action. The Canadian Trademarks Database lists all active trademarks and many inactive trademarks in the country.

Once this verification has been done, registration with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is recommended, in order to benefit from the protection granted by Canadian law.

You can register a business name, a logo, or both. Some wise start-up entrepreneurs will prefer to register a business name before they have even developed their logo. However, they will have to file and pay for a second registration for their visual identity.

In doing so, the entrepreneur obtains the exclusive right to use the brand throughout Canada for 15 years. This right is renewable for a fee.

Is it mandatory?

You are not required to systematically register your trademark. By using it for a certain period of time, you will become its owner under common law, that is, under the Civil Code of Quebec. In the event of litigation, however, you will have to prove the use of your trademark over time.

This type of legal battle can be lengthy and expensive, whether you are the defendant or suing another company.

In theory, it is of course desirable to register your trademark. In practice, and especially with the financial reality of small start-ups, many entrepreneurs will tend to delay this step.

To get an idea of the fees to pay to register your trademark, you can visit this OPIC page .