German company Daimler AG filed a cancellation action against Russian trade mark registration 272644 of March 6 2003 due to non-use registered in the name of an unknown Russian company. This was a seemingly routine case but not for the subject matter of the trade mark. It is a verbal mark Maibach. A very similar trade mark (Maybach) is much more familiar than the name of the Russian company which registered the slightly different mark.
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Only an interested person may cancel a trade mark in Russia and it may well be assumed that Daimler was interested. In its cancellation action Daimler stated that it owns exclusive rights for a number of trade marks for Maybach registered for class 7 in a number of countries and, inter alia, it also manufactures the cars Maybach. Daimler claimed that the Russian company did not use the trade mark for three consecutive years due to which it was eligible for cancellation. The Russian company indeed did not manufacture the cars nor, most probably, even bicycles. Nevertheless, The Chamber of Patent Disputes sent notifications to the trade mark owner as prescribed by the Chamber's rules. The hearing was scheduled for March 10 2010. Predictably the trade mark owner did not appear at the hearing. In fact it was clear without his presence that to manufacture a Maibach one needs something more than simply to set up a company. The outcome was clearly in favour of Daimler: the trade mark Maibach was cancelled.
Another case, though not connected with automotive industry, concerned the trade mark application number 2007715625.
The claimed designation was written in Latin and Russian characters and had a figurative element at the end. The applicant was an unknown Russian entrepreneur Mr Shablin. In fact he wanted to register his name as a trade mark but his creativity did not go beyond simply changing the last letter in his name. As in the preceding case it is not difficult to recognise the word Shablis which is associated by most people with the wine-producing region of France. The trick did not work. The examiners of the Russian Patent Office who most probably do not neglect Shablis saw through Shablin's stratagy and refused registration.
Different cases, same goal – to profit on the success of other companies. So many times the squatters try to misappropriate alien trade marks. So many squatted trade marks have been cancelled and unfair applications rejected. But, once in a while attempts continue. One may state though that the Patent Office and the Chamber of Patent Disputes has gained enough experience to withstand those attacks.
Another battle line is the domain names and with some satisfaction one may state too that cybersquatted registrations have less and less likelihood of surviving.
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| Vladimir Biriulin |
Gorodissky & Partners
Russia 129010, Moscow
B. Spasskaya Str
25, stroenie 3
Tel: +7 495 937 6116 / 6109
Fax: +7 495 937 6104 / 6123
pat@gorodissky.ru
www.gorodissky.com