Producers of sparkling wines in Kyrgyzstan failed to reach a consensus on their own and were forced to turn to the State Agency of antitrust regulation to settle the dispute.

That’s where the joint application from the LLC “Altyn shampany” and LLC Alcomir were filed about unfair competition from the Company Atalyk Group. According to petitioners, Atalyk Group forbids them to make “Soviet” champagne on the basis that trademarks “Sovetskoe” champagne and “Sovetskoe Igristoe” are protected.

The State Agency for Control over the manufacture and sale of ethyl alcohol and alcohol products has their own opinion on the matter. They felt that the “Sovetskoe” champagne and “Sovetskoe Igristoe” champagne are not brand names, but a standardized form of wine, having a certain technology, the demands for raw materials and finished products with specific characteristics. Its production is not associated in the mind of a regular consumer with a particular company, so registration of “Sovetskoe” and “Sovetskoe Igristoe” as trademarks is unlawful.

Based on this argument, in October of last year, the Appellate Board under Kyrgyzpatent decided to invalidate the registration of trademark “Sovetskoe” that was registered in 2005. But a month later for some reason the Board changed its mind and reversed the decision.

In this regard, the State Agency of Antitrust Regulation was forced to issue injunction to State intellectual property to remove obstacles, allowing the manufacturer to monopolize the market for alcohol production, import and distribution of “Sovetskoe” champagne.

Yuri Gruzdev
Moya Stolitsa