Calgary swingers club secures Club R trademark as Toys R Us objection lapses

The result ends the club’s wait for registered protection, but it does not settle the argument that made this an unlikely trademark contest: whether consumers might confuse an adult social club’s brand with the retailer’s. Nor does it give the club sole ownership of the words across all business activities. Next Century IPCO CAN ULC, which acquired Toys “R” Us Canada trademarks, still holds a separate, active Club R registration for customer loyalty programs.⁠4⁠6

That is the important distinction beneath the novelty of a toy retailer challenging a swingers club. One registration has been added; the other has not been erased. The opposition ended on procedure, leaving the competing argument about confusion undecided.⁠2⁠4⁠6

The retailer’s previous owner argued that allowing Club Rendezvous to register Club R would cause confusion, according to Tara Deschamps’s November 13 report for The Canadian Press. Toys “R” Us has called its loyalty program R Club in some markets. In Canada, however, its trademark position involved more than a resemblance between reversed words: it already held a registration for the exact name Club R.⁠1⁠6

That earlier application was filed on March 16, 2017, and registered on May 3, 2019. It covers the organisation, management and administration of customer loyalty programs offering benefits such as discounts, bonus offers, private sales and advance notice of sales and events.⁠6

Next Century entered the story through the retailer’s financial restructuring. The Canadian Press reported that it acquired the Toys “R” Us Canada name and about 150 trademarks earlier in 2026, while the retailer was under creditor protection and selling assets to cover debts. The objection to the club’s application had already begun. The official record shows the retailer’s Club R registration transferred to Next Century effective July 13, with the transfer recorded on August 13.⁠1⁠6

For the club, the overall application process and the opposition were different stretches of waiting. Club Rendezvous applied in April 2023; the proposed opposition was recorded in January 2026. It was not a three-year contested fight with Toys “R” Us. The challenge occupied the final part of a longer effort to register the name.⁠4

Under section 38(1) of the Trademarks Act, an opponent ordinarily has two months after advertisement to file a statement of opposition and pay the prescribed fee. That statement must set out the grounds in enough detail for the applicant to respond. Obtaining more time to oppose is not the same as filing the document.⁠12

The record shows extensions in January, March, June and August. In its published account, the club says the August 6 extension allowed until September 30 on exceptional-circumstances grounds, with a warning that another extension based on substantially the same circumstances was very unlikely. That description of the final allowance comes from the club; the public action history confirms the August extension and the subsequent closure.⁠2⁠4

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s closing entry is blunt: “Opposition/Section 45 Case Closed - Deadline to File SO Expired.” There was no contested hearing or decision determining whether the trademarks were confusingly similar.⁠4⁠2

The club’s new registration protects a name, not a particular reversed-R logo. Its services include nightclub operations, social-club activities concerning the swingers’ lifestyle, sexuality and intimacy, adult parties and related educational workshops. It also covers online entertainment information and member access to pictures and videos, alongside separate categories for bar and restaurant services and dating.⁠4

Those are different specified services from Next Century’s loyalty-program registration. Section 19 of the Trademarks Act explains the concrete benefit: subject to statutory exceptions, and unless a registration is shown to be invalid, its owner has the exclusive right to use the trademark throughout Canada in respect of the registered goods or services. It is meaningful national protection, not a universal monopoly over the words.⁠4⁠6⁠22

The club’s registration lists an expiry date of November 5, 2036. Next Century’s existing registration, TMA1020781, remains active with an expiry date of May 3, 2034. Their presence on the register should not be mistaken for a contested ruling that confusion is impossible; that question was never decided here.⁠4⁠6⁠2

For members, the change is legal rather than operational. Club Rendezvous says its Calgary location and events continue as usual and that the proceeding did not interrupt regular business. It traces its history to 1983, although that history does not establish continuous use of the shortened Club R name since then.⁠2

The owners told The Canadian Press they were pleased with the outcome and called the dispute “unusual” because their business operates in an entirely different industry from children’s toys. Neither Next Century nor its lawyer responded to the news agency’s requests for comment. Why the company allowed the deadline to pass therefore remains unexplained—not evidence of a settlement or a concession on confusion. The club obtained the registration it sought; the broader legal argument was left untested.⁠1⁠4