Zuykov and partners defended the exclusive right to trademarks of Russian company MAY in the EU territory

The Russian company "MAY" is the rightholder of the trademarks "МАЙСКИЙ ЧАЙ" ("MAY TEA") and "МАЙСКИЙ" ("MAY"). The manufacturer has expressed its intention to register its trademark for the EU countries in Latin – "MAY TEA". However, it turned out that the copyright holder of the trademarks "MAY TEA" on the territory of a number of European countries is the company Schweppes International Limited.

In this case, the interests of MAY LLC were represented by Zuykov and partners.

In September 2023, the European Patent Office recognized the trademarks "MAY TEA" of Schweppes International Limited as invalid due to the likelihood of confusion with the trademarks "MAY TEA" of the Russian manufacturer, registered earlier.

In particular, the Appeal Board of the Department made a decision:

• to recognize the trademarks "MAY TEA" of Schweppes International Limited as invalid in full;
• oblige the other party to assume compensation for the costs of each proceeding.

In the case involving a major global manufacturer Schweppes, the decision of the European Office in favor of the Russian company is a precedent-setting event against the background of the strengthening of the sanctions regime against Russia.