![Aleksandr Rakshin, Director General of "Maria-Ra". Photo: Dmitry Lyamzin.](http://www.kyrgyzstan.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/news/9588.jpg "Aleksandr Rakshin, Director General of "Maria-Ra". Photo: Dmitry Lyamzin.")
On May 31, the Russian Patent Disputes Chamber dismissed Walmart’s [1] trademark opposition against Maria-Ra [2], one of the largest supermarket chains in Russia.
Walmart, an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores, filed an opposition following Maria-Ra’s application for registration of a slogan in Russian “Pay less. Live better” [3], which Walmart claimed is similar to its “Save money. Live better” [4] slogan.
The Chamber ruled that the literal translation of Walmart’s “Save money” in Russian is “Keep Money” or “Economize money”. Considering that therefore, “Save money”, could never translate to “Pay less”, the Chamber reasoned that there is no violation on behalf of the defendant. The Chamber added that the two marks (slogans) do not resemble one another in design, which further supports the Chamber’s decision to dismiss Walmart’s claim.