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The law states that business names must be in French, but accompanying regulations grant an exemption for trademarked names in languages other than French. Office spokesman Martin Bergeron said another section of the regulations obliges such companies to include a “generic” French term to describe their activities.

In a legal opinion prepared for the Retail Council and obtained by Montreal’s Le Devoir, the firm Norton Rose said there is no legal requirement for companies with English brands to add French descriptions.

It said retailers could go to Superior Court to obtain a declaratory judgment stating that their signage is legal, or they could wait for the Office to impose sanctions and contest those.

The newspaper quoted a message from the Retail Council’s director of government relations acknowledging the issue is “sensitive” and stating it would be preferable for a legal challenge to involve a cross-section of retailers based in Quebec, the rest of Canada and the United States.

I think what they want is to be served in French and to find instructions in French and so on, but the whole culture doesn’t just rest on signage

Last fall, the Office was criticized by language hardliners for being too soft when it launched a campaign urging companies to voluntarily add French to their signs.

Mr. Bergeron said some companies have cooperated but others – he declined to identify them – have refused. “We are warning them that we are preparing to move onto the next stage,” he said. They could be stripped of their certificates attesting that they respect the language law and have their files submitted for prosecution.