Current trends in trademark registration in Russia

The world never stands still. It constantly changes and evolves, influenced by various external factors that shape its rules, including intellectual property. This article will discuss the modern trends in trademark registration observed in practice.

Registration of Trademarks for Individuals

As you know, until recently, only legal entities and individual entrepreneurs had the opportunity to register trademarks. In June 2023, changes were made that expanded the circle of persons entitled to register trademarks. Thus, since the entry into force of Federal Law No. 193-FZ "On Amendments to Part Four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation" on June 29, 2023, individuals have had the opportunity to register trademarks in their own name. Thus, it can be noted that many applicants began to use this opportunity and register trademarks in their own name, as individuals.

Popular Categories for Trademark Registration

A trademark is registered in relation to specific goods and services for which it is used/planned to be used. If we refer to the statistics of Rospatent, we can see that in the period for the first half of 2024, the largest number of applications were filed for such goods as: clothing and footwear (21.8% of applications), software and electronics (17.7%), household chemicals and cosmetics (13.8%), printed products and stationery (11.8%), as well as confectionery and bakery products (11.3%). It can be noted that these areas are the most popular for registering trademarks, which is due to the constant development of these industries. According to the statistics of Rospatent, in the first half of 2024, the number of applications to the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) filed by Russian entrepreneurs for registration of trademarks increased by almost 25%. 

The Most Active Regions

Trademark applications are filed by applicants from various regions of Russia, as well as foreign jurisdictions. Thus, among Russian regions, Moscow and St. Petersburg stand out in terms of application filing activity - it was from these cities that the largest number of applications were received in the first half of 2024. According to Rospatent, 29.3% of all applications were received from capital applicants, followed by applicants from the Moscow Region (9.5%), St. Petersburg (8%), then Krasnodar Krai (4.5%) and Sverdlovsk Region (2.5%). It can be assumed that such activity by region is due to business development in them and the need to register trademarks.

Registration of Trademarks in Cyrillic

The trend of registering trademarks in Cyrillic is actively gaining momentum. It can be seen that recently a large number of goods have appeared marked with trademarks made in Russian.

So, for clarity, we can cite such well-known examples as:

• Trademarks for hair care products: "SYOSS" - in 2022, the trademark in Cyrillic "SYOSS" was registered by the copyright holder Henkel AG und Co. (certificate No. 903770); "Schauma " - in 2024, the trademark in Cyrillic " Schauma" was registered by the copyright holder Henkel AG und Co. (certificate No. 1037189); "Gliss Kur" - in 2023, the trademark in Cyrillic "Gliss Kur" was registered by the copyright holder Henkel AG und Co. (certificate No. 977821).
• Trademarks for household chemicals, cleaning products: "Vernel" - in 2023, the trademark in Cyrillic "Vernel" was registered by the copyright holder Henkel AG und Co. (certificate No. 968503); "Domestos" - in 2024 the copyright holder Unilever Global IP Limited registered the trademark in Cyrillic "Domestos" (certificate No. 1038483); "Persil" - in 2023, the trademark in Cyrillic "Persil" was registered by the copyright holder Henkel AG und Co. (certificate No. 936497).
• Cosmetics store, cosmetic products under the brand "Loccitane" - in 2024, the copyright holder Laboratoire M & L registered a trademark in Cyrillic (certificate No. 993144).
• Trademarks in food categories, for example: coffee "Nescafe" - in 2024, the copyright holder Societe de Produits Nestle S.A. registered the trademark in Cyrillic "Nescafe" (certificate No. 1027382); ice cream "Carte D'or” - in 2024 by the copyright holder Unilever IP Holdings B.V. registered the trademark in Cyrillic "Carte D'or" (certificate No. 1038482), etc.

The list of such trademarks is quite extensive and their number is constantly growing.

"Old - New" Trademarks

Since mid-2022, a large number of new brands have appeared in Russia, although they are widely known to consumers, but under different names. These are products and companies that either left the country or transferred their business to local management. Such brands changed their names, but remained in Russia under new ones. Examples include the following:

• Fast food restaurants, known to all as "KFC" now "Rostics" (trademark under certificate No. 940887 - copyright holder LLC "UNIREST").
• Coffee known as "Paulig" is now called "Poetti" (trademark no. 900022 - owner: Milfoods LLC ). The Finnish coffee producer sold its plant in Tver to an Indian businessman, who renamed "Paulig Rus" to "Milfoods" and continued to produce products under the new brand "Poetti".
• Clothing stores "Reserved" are now called briefly and laconically "RE" (trademark according to certificate No. 897381 - copyright holder LLC "RE Trading").
• The store "Mothercare" was renamed and its new name is "Motherbear" (trademark according to certificate No. 938293 - copyright holder JSC "MFK JamilKo").

As you can see, some names have retained the “shade” of the previous ones and are quite recognizable to consumers, while others have completely changed their concept.

I would like to conclude the article with the practice of registering trademarks for fashionable slang words and expressions, as well as for marks with a hint of humor. Some trademarks have already been registered, and some are applications that are under examination. Time will tell whether they will be registered as trademarks.

Registration of Popular Words/Slangs

Very often you can hear in everyday life various new words, expressions, the meanings of which are not always clear to different age groups of the population. As a rule, slang words and expressions are found on the Internet. It is interesting that such designations are trying to be registered as trademarks, perhaps in order to "be on the same wavelength" with the modern generation and attract attention.

For example, among the applications and registered marks the following were noticed:

• "Skuf": application No. 2024753680 was filed for goods of classes 32, 33 of the Nice Classification and is currently undergoing examination. A similar application No. 2024781121 for the trademark "Skufitery" was already filed in the name of another person for goods of classes 29, 30, 32, 33 and services of classes 41, 43 of the Nice Classification.
• "Cringe" is a word from youth slang, for which application No. 2023829842 was also filed for goods of classes 32 and 33 of the International Classification of Goods and Services.
• "Explanatory Team" - application No. 2024758119 for this trademark was filed for goods of classes 09, 16, 25 of the International Classification of Goods and Services. Such a team is sometimes really needed, for example, to help determine the meanings of the above slang words.
• “It’s hard to be stuffy, but I try” - such an application was noticed in the Rospatent bulletin, application No. 2024779995 was filed for goods of classes 16, 18, 21, 25 of the International Classification of Goods and Services.
• "I have paws" - a phrase from a popular meme. Application No. 2024710284 for this trademark was filed in relation to services of class 35 of the International Classification of Goods and Services.
• "Sofa expert" - this is what they say about a person who considers himself an expert, but in fact is not one. Such a trademark was successfully registered under certificate No. 953335 for goods and services of classes 20, 35 of the International Classification of Goods and Services.
• Another phrase from the popular meme "Natasha, are you sleeping? Natasha, get up, we dropped everything there" became a trademark, which was registered under certificate No. 858104 for goods of 16, 18, 20, 25, 28 and services of 35, 41 classes of the International Classification of Goods and Services.

Trademarks with Humor

Among the trademarks and applications there are often those that involuntarily bring a smile to your face.

The trademark "And you didn't forget your head at home" involuntarily brings back the period of school days, when teachers used this phrase. Application No. 2023821129 was filed for goods of classes 28, 30, 32 of the International Classification of Goods and Services.

"Vegan's Nightmare" under certificate No. 589264 is registered for goods of classes 29 and services of classes 35 and 43 of the International Classification of Goods and Services. The verbal element is accompanied by an unusual picture that clearly demonstrates its meaning.

The trademark "You have the right to send everything" under certificate No. 366417 was registered by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Post". This trademark was not renewed in a timely manner and is currently not valid.

The collection of such signs is regularly updated.

Despite the fact that various changes are taking place and new trends are emerging, one thing remains unchanged – the popularity of trademarks that are actively registered and used.