Soyuzmultfilm studio filed a series of lawsuits for protection of its trademarks

In the Krasnodar Territory, the Soyuzmultfilm animation studio is suing retailers for violations of exclusive trademark rights, including cartoon characters - Cheburashka, Wolf and Winnie the Pooh. In 2023, the film studio filed 57 lawsuits with the Krasnodar Arbitration Court and has already won some of the courts. Among the defendants are businessmen engaged in retail trade in various cities of the Kuban region (Sochi, Anapa, Krasnodar, etc.). The total amount of the claims exceeds 3 million rubles. Soyuzmultfilm's animated images are used in all product categories: food, clothing, stationery, etc.

According to lawyers, the claims of the film studio to sellers of goods under its brands are quite justified, while Soyuzmultfilm has the right to demand from infringers of IP rights and large amounts of compensation than indicated in the cases under consideration. It is more effective for the copyright holder to sue manufacturers of counterfeit products or wholesalers, but retailers are reluctant to transfer data to the copyright holders about counterparties, fearing the rupture of commercial ties, says Yuri Yakhin, senior lawyer at the IP practice of Melling, Voitishkin and Partners.

"From the presented plot of the case, I can conclude that the probability of winning for the defendant is extremely small, one can only hope that the representatives of Soyuzmultfilm in some cases framed the evidence improperly, and for this reason the court will reject the claim against a specific defendant. But in case of proper evidence of trademark infringement by the defendant, the courts will recover at least 10 thousand rubles," said Sergey Zuykov, patent attorney, managing partner of Zuykov and partners.

Source: Kommersant Publishing House