Maxim Ali has commented on the dispute over illegal copying of Rosneft trademarks.

Since 2014 the dispute between Rosneft Oil Company and the owner of TTK Rosneft Altai gas stations over the illegal use of trademarks protecting the design of Rosneft gas stations has been going.  The owner of TTK Rosneft Altai gas stations copied the color scheme and names used by Rosneft Oil Company.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation in Altai Republic recognized the actions of TTK Rosneft as an act of unfair competition for the use of designations similar to the degree of confusion with the trademarks of Rosneft Oil Company. The arbitration courts sided with the copyright holder and granted Rosneft Oil Company’s claims for compensation for violation of its exclusive right to the trademark. At the end of July 2020, the Intellectual Property Court confirmed the validity of these findings.

Maxim Ali, Head of IP/IT practice at Maxima Legal, analysed the details of the dispute for the RAPSI (Russian Legal and Judicial Information Agency):

«On the whole, this dispute is in line with the established practice of reviewing such cases. With the filing of the Intellectual Property Rights Court, the courts below assessed the violation of rights to a particular sign.

It is interesting that the Intellectual Property Rights Court refers to the forensic examination conducted in the case on the issue of the presence of similarities to the degree of confusion between signs. Although paragraph 75 of Resolution No. 10 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of April 23, 2019 expressly prohibits raising such questions before an expert. Perhaps this nuance was not reflected in the Intellectual Property Rights Court Resolution, as the defendant did not make the relevant argument, and the conclusion about the similarity was made by the court of first instance, including on the basis of its own comparison from the position of an ordinary consumer».

To read the full article (in Russian), please see the RAPSI  website >>>