Well-known trademark

As of today, around 250 well-known trademarks have been registered in Russia.
Our team was fortunate to take part in the recognition of the combined trademark “TRIKOLOR” as a well-known trademark.

Procedure Specifics

Although the well-known status of a trademark is, in essence, a fact of objective reality, and the recognition procedure is formally intended to confirm or refute that fact, in practice Rospatent takes a very strict and highly formal approach, making the recognition procedure quite complex.
Quite often, right holders succeed in obtaining well-known trademark status only at the stage of appealing Rospatent’s decision before the Intellectual Property Court.

What advantages does this status give a trademark? Below are some of them:

— perpetual validity of rights;
— protection across all Nice classes (the protection extends even to dissimilar goods, if use of a well-known trademark by another party would be associated by consumers with the rights holder and could infringe upon their lawful interests);
— retroactive effect (priority for a well-known trademark can be established earlier than the date of issuance of the certificate);
— reduction of costs and risks associated with regular renewals;
— an increase in the number of decisions rendered in favor of well-known marks;
— enhanced company valuation in the event of a sale;
— a PR opportunity for media coverage;
— the possibility of registering a mark that has long been used as a trademark but lacked legal protection in Russia.

The Cherished Goal

Quite often, rights holders—aware of the complexity of the recognition procedure—do not initially set this as their goal. However, if the fact of objective reality is on your side, and your mark is truly well known to consumers, we are ready to take on all the burdens of this procedure and will be glad to lead you to the cherished goal: recognition of your trademark as well known.