The emergence of the 'famous' or 'well-known' trade mark is a natural result of globalisation and the ever-increasing commercial value of brand awareness. This global notoriety of famous trade marks creates debate as to whether they have a special status beyond that of the normal trade mark. Yet the UK has remarkably little jurisprudence on how the Courts will treat 'well-known marks' and so this paper considers how decisions of the Canadian Supreme Court may enlighten us.