Trademarks in Russia

According to Russian law, a trademark is defined as “a sign capable of individualizing the goods/services of legal entities or individual entrepreneurs.” (Art. 1477 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

It is important to note that Russian law does not allow trademark registrations in the name of natural persons unless they are registered as individual entrepreneurs. Therefore, if a foreign physical person files a trademark application, they should double check whether they may be considered an individual entrepreneur according to their country’s local law. Individual entrepreneurship is a type of enterprise that is owned and run by a single person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. Russian law, however, does not require any evidence that a trademark applicant is an individual entrepreneur at the stage of registering the trademark.

Unregistered trademarks do not enjoy legal protection in Russia

Russia is a "first to register" country. Under Russian trademark law, trademark rights are not acquired by actually using the designation in respect of the sale of goods or the advertising or performance of services; they are granted to the first person to file a trademark application. With the exception of a very narrow group of famous brands, the actual use of a brand in Russia does not give the brand owner any legal rights. Registration of a trademark outside Russia does not give the owner any rights either.

Registration of trademarks is not mandatory in Russia. However, the only protection afforded to non-registered brands in Russia may be found in unfair competition law based on Article 10-bis of the Paris Convention. In practice, protection of unregistered brands in Russia on the basis of this law is expensive and unpredictable. Accordingly, we do not recommend our clients to rely on unfair competition law to ensure brand protection. The simplest and the most straightforward way to protect your brand is to file a trademark application with the national trademark registrar – Rospatent.

Signs that can be registered as trademarks in Russia

Word, figurative, three-dimensional, and other signs or combinations thereof can be registered as trademarks.

A trademark may be registered in any color or color combination.

It is possible to register sounds, colors, holograms, olfactory marks, and some other types of non-traditional trademarks as long as they meet the distinctiveness requirement (capability of distinguishing your goods and services from those of others in the market).

Eurasian Customs Union

It is worth noting that Russia is a member of the Eurasian Customs Union (EACU). Apart from Russia, the Union‘s members as of today are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The EACU represents a single customs territory without customs control between any of the member states, so the goods can freely circulate among the countries. This situation has created new challenges for trademark holders in the member states. To ensure efficient trademark protection on the Union’s territory and to avoid possible pitfalls, it may be advantageous to register your trademark in all the member states. We are ready to help with professional advice in any particular case.

Our trademark attorneys will assist you in registering your trademark (service mark) in Russia and in the former USSR countries, namely in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and  Uzbekistan, under the Madrid System (international application) or in accordance with the national procedure.