Essiac Articles

The Canadian "Resperin" trademark
How a Canadian company purchased the “Resperin” trademark only to market their formula.

Who is Resperin?

By Xania Livia - January 2005

  A Canadian business under the name of Resperin Canada based out of Waterloo, Ontario, claim they obtained the Essiac formula through the legal transfer of the trademark name of “Resperin” on December 17, 1999. 

  On their web site, they proudly display the legal documents for the transfer of the trade-mark name of “Resperin”, however after fully reviewing the documents there is absolutely no indication the Essiac formula was ever transferred to the Waterloo, Ontario, company, as they claim on their web site.  The documentation looks very impressive to the reader but there is no mention of the Essiac formula or the legal transfer of the Essiac formula. 

  In fact, the Essiac formula that was legally signed over to the Resperin Corporation of Toronto in October 1977 by Rene Caisse was eventually signed over to David Dobbie of New Brunswick on May 29th, 1995.  Do not confuse the Resperin Corporation of Toronto with Resperin Canada of Waterloo, Ontario, as they are not the same business. The legal transfer of the Essiac formula to David Dobbie was clearly more than 4 and ½ years before Waterloo based company even gained the legal registration of the Resperin trade-mark name in December 1999. 

  To make it very clear - the legal registration of a trade-mark name of “Resperin” does not constitute the sale and legal transfer of Rene Caisse’s original Essiac formula.  The legal document is only for the transfer of the Resperin name. Nothing more!  So please don’t be fooled by this creative marketing ploy.
The following will show the historical background to the legal trade-mark names of Resperin and Essiac.

  On October 26th, 1977, Nurse Rene Caisse legally signed over the Essiac formula to the Resperin Corporation of Toronto, Ontario (not to be confused with Resperin Canada ) , which was legally formed in August, 1964 and was well promoted for venture capital by an eccentric Canadian, named David Fingard.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office for Canadian Trade-marks granted the trade-mark name of “Resperin” to the Resperin Corporation of Toronto on August 21, 1970 for use of "Apparatus for treatment of diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract, comprising of medication, vaporizer, circulatory equipment, and vapor en-training.  NOTE: The trademark name "Resperin" was registered only for the use of respiratory medication.  Fingard was marketing respiratory medications in the 1960’s and 70’s.

  By the mid 80’s Fingard’s health was declining and the Resperin trade-mark was expunged on October 24th, 1985 by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and was left was left pending due to failure to renew the trade-mark registration, leaving the Resperin name inactive and pending for renewal for a number of years. 

  Back in 1978, Resperin Corporation of Toronto also filed for the trademark name "essiac" to be used for "Herbal medicinal compound" and was granted the trademark on August 1, 1980.
After a difficult struggle to legitimize Essiac as a drug, Resperin of Toronto legally signed over the Essiac formula to David Dobbie, a Canadian chemist, on May 29th, 1995, who had years previously taken over the helm of the Resperin Corporation of Toronto, after David Fingard’s death in July 1989.  David Dobbie through his company Essiac Product Ltd. had the Essiac formula reclassified as a food substance with Health Canada which would allow Essiac to be sold to the general public, so long as there were no medical claims associated with the Essiac product.  Dobbie was on the right track and began an active marketing and sales program. 

  In 2002, David Dobbie transferred the Essiac rights to TP Maloney of Essiac Canada International to distribute Essiac on an international scale.  The trademark name of "essiac" was updated on November 12, 2003 with the Canadian Intellectual Properties Office for the use of "(1) Herbal tea for food purposes, herbal teas for medicinal purposes. (2) Pharmaceutical preparations, namely, preparations for the treatment of blood detoxification and cleansing, cirrhosis, immune system enhancement, and cancer; herbal tea for medicinal purposes."

  Even before the Resperin Corporation of Toronto dissolved, along came the “masked-bandit” in the guise of a numbered company, # 1243878 Ontario Ltd. of Waterloo to file an application on October 31, 1997, with the Canadian Intellectual properties Office for the trade-mark name of “Resperin” to be used for the sale of “herbal teas”.  This application hit a brick wall and was rejected by the Canadian Trade-Mark Registry.
Nine months after David Fingard’s death in July 1989, Fingard’s widow, Mildred, and the remaining board of directors slowly tied up the loose ends of the Resperin Corporation of Toronto which was dissolved on October 2, 1998.

  It was only a few days after the Resperin Corporation had closed its doors, a separate application was filed on October 8, 1998, to transfer the trademark name of "Resperin" from Mildred Fingard to the numbered company 1243878 Ontario Ltd., of Waterloo for the sole use of "A medical treatment consisting of an inhalant for asthma and other respiratory conditions." 

  One has to wonder if Mildred Fingard even knew at the time of the legal transfer that the numbered company of Waterloo tried previously to obtain the “Resperin” trade-mark to market herbal teas, as noted on the first trade-mark application that was rejected by Canada’s Intellectual Properties Office. The application submitted by Mildred Fingard on behalf of the numbered company of Waterloo stipulated only the use of respiratory medicinal treatment, which to date, had not been updated for the sale of herbal teas.

  The numbered company 1243878 Ontario Ltd. legally becomes Resperin Canada based out of Waterloo, Ontario and claim that through the transfer of the trade-mark name of Resperin, the Essiac formula was also part of the deal.  If this were true why is this not mentioned in the legal document?  If you really take time to read the contract you will see that the document is ONLY for the legal transfer of the trade-mark name of Resperin and NOT for the legal transfer of the Essiac formula.  Don’t be fooled by this shenanigans