Patent Office Acknowledges Fame of Russian Vodka
Yesterday, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks declared two trademarks, “Soviet Champagne” and “Russian Vodka” to be commonly known, acting on an application filed by Soyuzplodoimport. That means that trademarks even resembling them cannot be registered in Russia. Soviet Champagne is currently being produced by about 40 enterprises in the CIS, but no one disputed Soyuzplodoimport's application. Russian Vodka is no longer produced at all. Patent experts think that the company, headed by Vladimir Loginov, will take action against the other producers of Soviet Champagne. That company has also filed applications to have the vodka brand name Stolichnaya (“Capital”) and Moskovskaya (“Moscow”) declared commonly known. This is a step in an ongoing dispute between Soyuzplodoimport and the SPI group, headed by Yury Shefler. The latter company is the distributor of Stolichnaya vodka in most countries of the world.
After Russia is admitted to the World Trade Organization, which is to occur in September 2006, registered trademarks will receive additional protection worldwide. Loginov acknowledged his motivation to take advantage of the new conditions. “This will be a serious argument for us in the fight for our trademarks in the CIS and abroad,” he said. His company has been successful in protecting its interests in some CIS countries already. In Azerbaijan, for instance, the trademark Stolichnaya has been claimed by Soyuzplodoimport. The company's perspectives on the important North American markets are not so clear, however. Andrey Skurikhin, chairman of the board of SPI, is not worried. “To seriously expect success in the U.S., Soyuzplodoimport has to sell a good, people have to know what the organization is. But they have nothing to do with vodka,” he noted.
by
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 13, 2005
|
