How to register a green trademark: ORGANIC, ECO, BIO

Every year, the so-called "green" agenda - the identification and solution of problems related to environmental protection and ecology - is becoming more and more relevant in the world community. It is noted that this agenda is becoming one of the key priorities both at the global, national and local levels.

For example, according to the VTsIOM survey on eco-friendly consumption, more than half of Russians are more likely to take into account the environmental friendliness of goods when buying, and two-thirds will prefer a more expensive product to a cheaper one if the expensive product is safer for the environment.

As a rule, when choosing a particular product, consumer awareness of its environmental friendliness is achieved through appropriate labeling - designations on labels, product packaging, etc. According to experts, the term "green trademarks" is already used in science, research is being carried out on the "green" nature and environmental orientation of trademarks with reference to specific classes of goods, etc. In turn, manufacturers of goods, realizing the obvious economic benefits of responding to the "environmental demand" of consumers, try to take this factor into account when registering trademarks, including designations that cause an association with the organic origin of products ("eco", "bio", "natural", etc.).

The problem is that at present there are no direct restrictions in the legislation of the Russian Federation that would prevent manufacturers from labeling goods accordingly, regardless of the real state of affairs. For example, the law "On Organic Products" allows labeling environmentally friendly products if the compliance of their production is confirmed (certified), but the requirements for verbal labeling themselves limit the use of only the word "organic", its abbreviations and words derived from it. Since other "green" terms formally remain outside the ban, their uncontrolled use in the labeling of products creates conditions for both unfair competition and to mislead consumers.

The good news is that from September 1, 2025, the relevant amendments to Article 7 of the Law "On Organic Products" will come into force, which will change the rules for labeling environmentally friendly products and affect the registration of "green" trademarks.

At the same time, experts recommend taking into account future requirements when filing an application for trademark registration, since in the practice of Rospatent over the past year there are cases when the office refused to register "green" trademarks if their environmental origin was not confirmed. In particular, you need to consider the following:

What designations are associated with the ecological origin of the product

The legislator has expanded the list of cases when designations will indicate the environmental origin of products, and therefore, in order to register them as a trademark, it will be necessary to document this fact. In particular, these are:

• The word "organic", its abbreviations or words derived from this word, alone or in combination with the name of organic products;
• Words and phrases "biodynamic", "biological", "ecological", "ecological", "green" or similar words or their abbreviations or designations "eco" and "bio".

Let's see which path the practice will take, but note that at the moment the use of "eco" or "bio" in the designation does not in itself mean the presence of an environmental component. In particular, now the department refuses to register if the word can be divided into "bio" / "eco" and a semantically significant word, for example, "bioenergy", "eco-tradition". But it registers the designation if the word is fantasy and does not break, for example, "biolan", "eco-reshek".

When an eco-label does not require confirmation

The requirements for confirming the conformity of organic production do not apply to the labeling of certain types of products in the following cases:

• If when forming the names of certain types of products, regardless of the method of their production, technical regulations allow the use of the designation "bio";
• If the word "green" is used in such labelling to indicate the colour of the produce or the degree of maturation of the produce;
• If the phrase "green standard" is used to label agricultural products, agricultural raw materials and food with improved characteristics.

Which classes of goods are subject to restrictions

The Law "On Organic Products" regulates relations the object of which is agricultural products, raw materials and food, respectively, restrictions related to the labeling of organic products and the registration of relevant trademarks also apply only to these objects.

The said law does not contain the concept of "food" in relation to the scope of its regulation, therefore the definition established in the law "On the Fundamentals of Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation" is applied, namely:

Food products are products in natural or processed form, which are in circulation and consumed by humans for food (including baby food, dietary food), bottled drinking water, alcoholic beverages, beer and beverages made on its basis, soft drinks, chewing gum, food additives and biologically active additives.

It follows that restrictions on the labeling of organic products and the registration of relevant trademarks will apply to goods and services that belong to the following classes of the Nice Classification: 05, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34.

What will happen to goods that are already labeled with an environmental designation

In conclusion, it is important to note that the circulation of goods that were put into circulation before the entry into force of the new rules, the production of which did not comply with the requirements for organic products, but which have the words "biodynamic", "biological", "ecological", "environmentally friendly", "green" or similar words or their abbreviations or designations "eco" or "bio" in the label, is allowed before the expiration of their shelf life.

Let's see how events will develop, as well as the further fate of trademarks that may cause associations with the environmental origin of goods, but were previously registered without confirming this fact.