The Valov Group was denied registration of a sign with the symbol "V" due to association with the Russian Armed Forces

In November 2023, Agroindustrial Holding Valov Group LLC applied to register a designation as a gray circle with a black frame, inside which there is an element in the shape of a Latin letter V. The applicant wanted to obtain legal protection for the sign regarding goods of the 7th, 11th, 21st, and 29th classes of the ICGS (agricultural tools, slaughtering machines, milking and harvesting machines, animal feeders, yogurt, etc.).

Rospatent refused to register this image as a trademark, referring to subsection 2, paragraph 3, article 1483 of the Civil Code, prohibiting registration in case of contradiction to public interests. The reason for the refusal to register a trademark was the argument of experts that the letter element included in the claimed designation is perceived as the Latin letter V, attributed to the symbols of the Russian Armed Forces, based on publicly available information on the Internet. The highlighted letter V, which occupies a central position in the sign and focuses the consumer's attention on itself, is currently used as a symbol of the Russian armed forces.

Valov Group has submitted its objections to the Chamber of Patent Disputes. The company, in particular, pointed out that a letter inscribed in a pictorial element in the form of a circle may not always be perceived as a V of the Latin alphabet. For example, it can be perceived as the lowercase letter "g" of the Cyrillic alphabet in the script as well as an image of a horned helmet, etc. Even if this designation is used as the letter V, it will be perceived as an abbreviation of the applicant's name Valov Group. As with other arguments, the company drew attention to the fact that the letter V is not an official symbol of the Armed Forces, and Rospatent previously provided legal protection to trademarks whose composition this letter is included.

Rospatent considered the applicant's arguments not so obvious, emphasizing the stable nature of the association with the V sign. In an explanation from the Ministry of Defense, it was noted that although this sign is not an official military symbol, it is recognizable and positively perceived by military personnel and citizens of Russia. According to the board of Rospatent, the V sign, without any specific authorship, actually passed into the status of public domain. This implies its free use by a wide range of people, including those engaged in entrepreneurial activities. In this case, registration of the designation as a trademark is contrary to the public interest, since it gives the copyright holder the exclusive right to its commercial use and allows further prohibiting its use by third parties.

Patent attorney, managing partner of Zuykov and partners Sergey Zuykov, in a comment for RBC, noted that he did not agree with Rospatent's decision to assign the letter V in the application of the Valov Group to designations contrary to public interests. "The letter V used by the Ministry of Defense is different, having no resemblance to the letter V declared for registration," the expert notes. The reason for the refusal of registration, in his opinion, could be the inconsistency of the company, which tried to justify the possibility of registration by saying that it was not the Latin letter V, but variants of other letters of different alphabets or an image of cattle or a horned helmet. Zuykov does not believe that the decision creates risks for previously registered signs with this symbol, but it will create problems with registering new ones. "There are a lot of letters V registered, I think that this practice of refusing to register letters V is wrong," the expert summarizes.

Experts believe that, given the objectively different designation graphics from the common use cases of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Valov Group may continue to fight for the designation in the IP Court. The probability of Rospatent's decision being overturned in the IP Court is "quite high," Zuykov believes. "The main thing is that the arguments in court should be consistent and understandable, taking into account the fact that the Latin letter V is applied for registration," he said.

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