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WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH 2011
Rospatent says "nyet" to Putin-Medvedev Vodka
Russia’s Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trade Marks (Rospatent) has refused to grant Russian beverage producer Royalty's application to register as a trade mark protection the word mark "Volodya i Medvedi”. The words mean "Volodya and the bears" and the product for which registration is sought is a vodka.
This may all seem very strange to non-Russians, but the name alludes to Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev: "Volodya" is a nickname for Vladimir and "Medvedi", or bears, sounds similar to the surame Medvedev.
Royalty appealed against the initial refusal of its application, arguing that the name “Volodya i Medvedi” was inspired by the most popular male name in Russia and by fairytales. Rospatent thought otherwise: the brand would be “detrimental to the image and interests of the state and contrary to public interests.”
There is a sequel: a Ukrainian company Vineksim, not connected with Royalty, has registered the same brand of vodka, “Volodya i Medvedi”, in Ukraine and started to export it to Russia. Vineksim also sells the Putinka brand, which is the second most popular vodka brand in Russia.
Posted by: Jeremy Phillips @ 23.07
Tags: Russia, Registration, |
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