Lepim i Varim culinary company defended the trademark rights in a dispute with Eurospar

The house of dumplings "Lepim i Varim" has accused the retailer Eurospar (the store management firm "Spar Middle Volga") of illegally using the brand in the name of the culinary departments and selling products under this sign.

The dispute began in 2021. After unsuccessful attempts to settle the contradictions over a number of trademarks peacefully, the Russian company filed a lawsuit, demanding that the defendant change the name of the culinary departments and pay compensation in the amount of 21 million rubles.

In May 2022, the Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod region partially satisfied this application. According to this decision, Eurospar must stop using the disputed name on signage, advertising and delivery, as well as pay the plaintiff 5.2 million rubles of compensation. In March 2023, the IP Court confirmed the decision of the first instance.

Lawyers interviewed by Vedomosti consider the court decisions regarding Eurospar to be fair. There are many disputes where copyright holders demand compensation for the misuse of a trademark. For example, the claims on this occasion were filed by the "Cheese Factory" of Arkady Novikov to Ufa restaurateur Vladislav Lovkov, and the culinary shop "Karavaev Brothers" – to the company "Two pretzels" in connection with the use of the phrase "culinary shop", recalls lawyer Alexander Korolev.

According to Sergey Zuykov, Managing Partner of Zuykov and partners, the compensation awarded to the "Lepim i Varim" is quite large. The courts justified its size based on the double value of the rights to open a point under the brand (estimated at 1.5 million rubles) and the number of outlets where the violation was proved, the expert explained.

Source: Vedomosti