An appeals court will hear on November 10 a popular online publication’s appeal against the denial of its trademark registration, the court official told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).
Gazeta.Ru is a well-known online portal in Russia.
The Federal Service for intellectual property, patents and trademarks refused to register the “газета.ру,” “газета.ru” and “gazeta.ru” trademarks for Gazeta.Ru in February.
The company challenged the decision in a commercial court. The Moscow Commercial Court upheld the decision on the “газета.ru” trademark and the company contested the judgment in the appeals court.
Rospatent decided that the proposed trademarks consisted of unprotected symbols that are not distinctive, and therefore cannot be registered.
Additionally, the agency reasoned that the trademarks are confusingly similar to the “Газета” (transliterated as “Gazeta”) trademark already registered on behalf of a third party.