Russia: Line of products and “Golden Barrel”
Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Russia: Line of products and “Golden Barrel”

Efes Breweries International NV, a famous beer company, filed a trade mark application 2014735627 for Золотая Бочка Шаболовское (Golden Barrel from Shabolovka). The patent office examiner refused the application arguing that the claimed designation could not be registered because it contained the word "Shabolovka" which is a street in Moscow. According to the examiner, the presence of this word creates associations with Moscow while the applicant is located in the Netherlands. Thus, this designation could confuse consumers with regard to the producer of the goods, namely his location.

The applicant appealed the decision of the patent office at the Chamber of Patent Disputes. The Chamber confirmed that indeed Shabolovka is a street in Moscow known from the 18th century. This street became famous in Moscow because a state TV company built a complex of buildings with a tall TV tower there. At the same time, while investigating this issue deeper the Chamber of Patent Disputes found that the beer Золотая Бочка Шаболовское is produced by Moscow-Efes Brewery JSC one of whose founders is the applicant. In doing so, the share of the applicant in the authorised capital is 70% which allows him to have full control over the Moscow brewery.

Beer marked by the claimed designation is yet another product in the beer line of the producer, such as Золотая Бочка (Golden Barrel) according to certificate numbers 186479 and 477418 and international registrations 1191714 and 1028900 whose right owner is the applicant and who issued a licence to Moscow-Efes Brewery JSC for the production of beer. These are pictured.

The Chamber of Patent Disputes found that the time span and amounts of production of the beer labelled with the trade marks Golden Barrel show that the consumer will perceive the beer labelled Золотая Бочка Шаболовское (Golden Barrel from Shabolovka) as continuation of a line of beer known to him. There is more to it. The documents submitted by the applicant showed that the consumer already knows the beer labelled with the claimed designation and there is no evidence that consumers are confused with regard to the producer or place of production of that beer.

Hence, the Chamber of Patent Disputes saw no obstacles for registration of the claimed designation in respect of the goods in class 32.

biriulin.jpg

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

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

A 36-member team from Zhong Lun Law Firm, including six partners, will join the newly formed East IP Group
The Delhi High Court sided with Ericsson against Indian smartphone maker Lava, bringing the companies' nine-year dispute to a close
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
Tennessee has passed the ELVIS Act, a law that fights against AI models that mimic the voice and likeness of music artists
Rob Stien, chief communications and public policy officer at InterDigital, says the EU has forgotten innovators while trying to solve an issue that doesn’t exist
As Australia’s Qantm IP leans towards being acquired by a private equity company, sources discuss what it could mean for IP firms
Law firms that are conscious of their role in society are more likely to win work, according to a survey of over 23,000 in-house professionals
Nghiem Xuan Bac Pham, managing partner of Vision & Associates, discusses opportunities created by the US-China rift as well as profitability issues facing IP practices
Douglas Leite and two of his colleagues were intrigued by Bhering Advogados’s mission to grow its patent litigation practice
Each week Managing IP speaks to a different IP practitioner about their life and career
Gift this article