Montreal metro's "dou-dou-dou" door chime is still not trademarked

The Société de transport de Montréal, the city's transit agency, applied in 2016 to register the three-note door-closing signal. A decade on, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has not approved it.

The office's examiner found the sound almost identical to Vancouver's SkyTrain door signal, registered in 2017, though the notes, intervals and tempo differ.

On Oct 5, the office said the transit agency's evidence that the sound is distinctive was insufficient. The agency says it is confident of a registration soon, while a trademark lawyer says a fresh application would be easier to prove.