Presidium of IP Court Upholds Decision in Favor of Marussia Beverages B.V. (Netherlands)

The Presidium of the Intellectual Property Court affirmed the decision of the same court to invalidate the MAMMUT МАММУТ trademark.

The request to invalidate in part the trademark under the certificate of the Russian Federation No. 551704 was filed by Marussia Beverages B.V. (Netherlands) to Rospatent’s Chamber for Patent Disputes. The company is the owner of the word trademarks "MAMONT" under the certificate of the Russian Federation No. 292670 and "МАМОНТ" under the certificate of the Russian Federation No. 373940, which have an earlier priority, registered in relation to goods of class 33 of the Nice Classification "alcoholic beverages, including vodka". Rospatent came to the conclusion that there was no similarity between the disputed trademark and the opposing marks and refused to satisfy the objection.

Sojuzpatent lawyers filed with the Intellectual Property Court an application to invalidate said Rospatent decision. Based on the results of consideration of the application, the IP Court came to the conclusion that the disputed trademark and the opposing trademarks are similar since they are generally associated with each other, despite their individual minor differences.

The Judicial Board recognized that since the compared trademarks have a high degree of similarity and the compared services have a high degree of homogeneity, there is a high probability that Russian consumers will have the idea that they belong to the same person. The IP Court invalidated the trademark under the certificate of the Russian Federation No. 551704 and obliged Rospatent to make an appropriate entry in the State Register of Trademarks and Service Marks.

The Presidium of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights, refusing to satisfy the cassation complaints filed by Rospatent and the MAMMUT МАММУТ trademark owner, upheld the decision of the court of first instance.