Goodwill Definition: An intangible business asset which includes a cultivated reputation and consequential attraction and confidence of repeat customers and connections. Related Terms: Trademark, Passing-Off In his 2012 article, C. Wilson described goodwill as follows: "Goodwill has been defined as the benefit and advantage of the good name, reputation and connection of a business, the attractive force which brings in customers...." In many cases, goodwill is used interchangeably with the word reputation. A claim for the tort of passing off usually includes an allegation that the defendant's actions depreciated the plaintiff's goodwill. The Canadian Trade-marks Act (at canlii.org/ca/sta/t-13/), at ¶20 (extract only): "The right of the owner of a registered trade-mark to its exclusive use shall be deemed to be infringed by a person not entitled to its use under this Act who sells, distributes or advertises wares or services in association with a confusing trade-mark or trade-name ... in such a manner as is not likely to have the effect of depreciating the value of the goodwill attaching to the trade-mark." REFERENCES: Wilson, C., An Overview of Intellectual Property, 70 Adv. 361 at 362 (2012) Categories & Topics: Intellectual Property and Internet Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!