Zuykov and partners succeeded in maintaining the decision of Rospatent, which annulled the trademark TURKOMPLEKS MANZHEROK

The word trademark "TURKOMPLEKS MANZHEROK" according to Russian Federation certificate No. 713393 was registered on 05/24/2019 in the name of the company Tourist Complex Manzherok in relation to services of classes 39 and 43 of the MKTU.

Believing that the legal protection of this trademark was granted in violation of the provisions of the Civil Code, the All-Season Resort Manzherok community appealed to Rospatent on March 16, 2021, with a complaint.

By the decision of Rospatent dated 21.08.2021, the objection was satisfied, and the granting of legal protection to trademark No. 713393 was declared invalid in its entirety.

Disagreeing with Rospatent's conclusions, the Tourist Complex Manzherok society appealed to the Court of Intellectual Rights with a statement to declare the said non-normative legal act invalid.

As a third party, not making independent claims regarding the subject of the dispute, the company All Season Resort Manzherok, whose interests were protected by the company Zuykov and Partners, was brought in.

The arguments of the Tourist Complex "Manzherok" society were reduced to the fact that the registration of the disputed trademark does not violate the provisions of clauses 1 and 6 of Article 1483 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, since the contested trademark did not indicate the place of provision of services on the date of its priority, it acquired distinctiveness and falls under the provisions of clause 1.1. Art. 1483 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Having considered the application of the Tourist Complex Manzherok society, the court recognized as justified the Rospatent's conclusions that the disputed designation "TURKOMPLEKS MANZHEROK" in relation to services of classes 39 and 43 of the MKTU is a geographical name, which is perceived as an indication of the location of the person providing the service. At the same time, the court did not agree with the arguments of the applicant that this geographical object can be considered unknown in the field of tourist services for the average Russian consumer, therefore this designation should be free also for other legal entities that offer their tourist services in the territory geographic object. Having established that the disputed designation consists only of non-protected elements, the court agreed with Rospatent's conclusion that the registration of the disputed trademark according to the certificate of the Russian Federation No. 713393 violates paragraph 1 of Art. 1483 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition, the court found unsubstantiated the applicant's arguments that the disputed sign acquired distinctiveness before the date of filing the application for registration as a trademark since the evidence presented contains a sign that is significantly different in style from the registered trademark, and the information provided by the applicant about the popularity of the sign to consumers and the provision of tourist services by the tourist complex since 2002 (and earlier - in 1990) has not been documented.

Thus, the decision of the Intellectual Property Court dated June 22, 2022, in case No. СИП-1241/2021 confirmed the legality of Rospatent's decision, by which the granting of legal protection to the trademark by Russian Federation certificate No. 713393 was declared invalid in its entirety.

Court decision