National Hat Day 2025, A Perfect Stage Prop
January 15 is celebrated as National Hat Day, a throwback to a time when no outfit was complete without a hat. By the 1980s hats had become novelties, but on January 15, 2025, they roared back into relevance: Ontario Premier Doug Ford donned a bright blue cap reading “CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE.” The hat, a gift from Ottawa branding agency Jackpine, exploded across social media, and by dawn on January 16, Jackpine’s Shopify store had logged more than 8,000 orders.
A Domain Name Appears, And a Dispute Begins
That same morning, an Ontario resident registered canadaisnotforsalehat.ca, quickly launching an independent online storefront selling hats bearing the same slogan. Jackpine swiftly fired off a complaint under the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP), requesting the domain be transferred. At this point, I stepped into the fray as counsel for the registrant, tasked with defending his right to the domain.