Maxim Ali told Pravo.ru about the problems of intellectual property law

The legal portal “Pravo.ru” has prepared an article in which experts talked about the main problems in the regulation of intellectual property.

According to Maxim Ali, Head of Intellectual Property and Information Technologies practice at Maxima Legal, one of them is the lack of ability to protect a trademark from “dilution”.

The expert explained to “Pravo.ru” that, under article 1484 of the Civil Code, the scope of an ordinary trademark is limited to the types of goods and services chosen by the rights holder. Therefore, there may be players on the market that use other people’s trademarks in ways that were not protected by the rights holders in the registration. Such entrepreneurs cannot be sued because formally their activities do not contradict the law.

Maxim Ali also underlined that even legitimate use of someone else’s trademark may cause harm to its owner. A trademark may lose distinctiveness, which would adversely affect the reputation of the brand or give rise to termination of protection of such signs under art. 1514 of the Civil Code.

Analyzing the options for eliminating this problem, the expert noted that “in the US this problem is solved through the concept of trademark dilution. The right holder has the right to claim protection of exclusive rights in a situation of “dilution” of its trademark. This tool is used to protect the uniqueness and reputation of the brand”.

According to Maxim, it is too early to say that the concept of “dilution” has been taken up by the Russian court practice. However, consistent application of this doctrine could help solve the problem of “parasitising” famous brands.

To read the full article (in Russian) please visit Pravo.ru website >>>