Kirill Katkov assessed for Pravo.ru the chances of Vladislav Bakalchuk to obtain the rights to the domain name wb.ru

The portal Pravo.ru analysed the main events in the intellectual property sphere in August. One of them is an attempt by Vladislav Bakalchuk, who owns 1% of Wildberries, to register the trademark ‘VB Vladislav Bakalchuk’. According to the businessman, the marketplace was named after the first letters of his name, and therefore he intends to protect the valuable asset of Wildberries – the domain name wb.ru (note: the letters V and W, as well as their corresponding sounds are represented in the Russian language by the single letter ‘B’. Therefore, the initials of Vyacheslav Bakalchuk (ВБ) are indeed consonant with the domain name wb.ru (ВБ.ru)).

If the trademark ‘VB Vladislav Bakalchuk’ is registered, it will be difficult to prove infringement of rights to it by using the domain name wb.ru, explained Kirill Katkov, an Associate at Maxima Legal. Firstly, it will be difficult to prove the similarity between the initials ‘WB’ and the domain name. Secondly, there is a connection between the domain name wb.ru and the trademarks registered by Wildberries.

‘Considering that Bakalchuk intends to eventually obtain the right to the domain name wb.ru, his actions, as contrary to the interests of Wildberries, may be recognised as an abuse of right,’ the expert stressed.

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