Dmitry Uryakin has commented for Pravo.ru on the dispute over legal protection of similar brands that reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

Molodie i Krasivie LLC, which develops “Lepim and Varym” (Mould and boil) international chain of dumplings restraunts  and owns a series of combined service marks “Lepim and Varym svezhie pelmeni” (Mould and boil fresh dumplings), asked a court to prohibit Spar cookery shops from using the word combinations “Lepim Varym” and “Pelmeni Lepim Varym” for advertising purposes and for labelling their own products. Spar owns the combined brand “Lepim Varym” for such goods as stuffed cabbage, meat, frozen and ready-to-cook semi-finished products, dumplings, ravioli, dumplings and dough, while the brand protection of Molodie i Krasivie LLC extends to the services of snack bars, cafes, restaurants, food preparation and delivery, packaging, storage and transport of goods, freezing of food products and for advertising.

Three instances supported the plaintiff, but the Russian Supreme Court sent the case for a new review. The Supreme Court agreed with the similarity of the brands, but found that the lower courts equated the cafe’s services with the sale of finished products in the cookery departments, but did not compare other types of work, which made it unclear which similar services and why the disputed word combinations could not be used.

According to Dmitry Uryakin, Senior Associate and Head of General Business Law practice at Maxima Legal, the courts should not have prohibited Spar from any use of the designations “Lepim Varym” and Pelmeni Lepim Varym” at least because the defendant has its own trademark. “Legal protection is granted to the plaintiff’s brands only in relation to some services, but not all of them at all,” the expert explained to Pravo.ru legal portal.

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