The rights to some of the Unilever brands in the Russian Federation were transferred to a local company
Source: kommersant.ru
The global companies remaining in Russia are looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of protecting their brands. Thus, the local Unilever structure has acquired the rights to some brands in Russia, including Chistaya Liniya and Inmarko, which should facilitate possible legal disputes.
In recent years, some market participants in Russia have become more active in imitating well-known brands and are trying to remove legal protection of foreign trademarks ahead of time, experts say.
Unilever Rus LLC, which is part of Unilever, in February—March 2024 became the rightholder of several trademarks that previously belonged to foreign structures of the concern, according to Rospatent data. Among them are the brands of cosmetics "Clean Line", "Velvet pens", "Black Pearl", dental products "Forest balm", ice cream "Inmarko", Ekzo, etc. The former trademark holders were the Dutch Unilever IP Holdings B.V. and the British Unilever Global IP.
Unilever Rus stated that the above-mentioned brands belong to the headquarters of Unilever, and Unilever Rus bought the rights to these trademarks registered in Russia in order to protect their use in the country. This will simplify risk management, for example, in case of detection of counterfeit goods, the company added.
Unilever is one of the main manufacturers of food and consumer goods in the world, headquartered in the UK. It produces, among other things, Knorr seasonings and soups, Clear cosmetics, Dove, Axe, Rexona, Cif cleaning products, Domestos, etc. After the start of its production in Ukraine, Unilever's head office announced the suspension of investments, imports and exports in Russia. The local enterprises of the concern continue to work. In 2022, Unilever Rus' revenue decreased by 1.3% year-on-year, to 84.88 billion rubles, net profit increased by 90%, to 9.22 billion rubles.
Semenov & Pevzner partner Yulia Yarnykh says that a local company does not need to legalize foreign documents when protecting trademarks, and in general, position coordination and decision-making are simplified. Only the issuance of a power of attorney for representation in court from a foreign company can take a long time, says Alina Akinshina, CEO of Online Patent.
Lyudmila Lukyanova, a lawyer for Forward Legal, adds that in court, in such disputes, arguments about removing protection from a trademark are often heard only because of the jurisdiction of the copyright holder. Nestle Corporation, for example, transferred trademarks to a local division more than 20 years ago, says Olga Zinovieva, head of the Elecskor law firm. According to her, today such a transfer may also be caused by the desire to distance oneself as much as possible from direct connection with activities in Russia.
As Alina Akinshina notes, prompt response to potential violations for well-known brands of foreign origin has become more important in recent years.
Some entrepreneurs have become more active in imitating well-known brands in the hope that some copyright holders have stopped monitoring violations in Russia, she points out. Yulia Yarnykh says that there are also risks of early termination of trademark protection in claims related to non-use. As an example of one of the latest such disputes, the lawyer cites the lawsuit of the confectionery association "Beloved Land" against the German Rewe Group for the early termination of the legal protection of the Oliver's brand. A preliminary hearing on the case has been postponed until September.
How companies that have left the Russian Federation protect their brands in the country
Alexey Popovichev, executive director of Rusbrand, says that today the "patent trolls" of the early 2000s have been replaced by companies tracking unused brands and trying to cancel the protection of these brands for their own needs, but such cases remain isolated. According to him, attempts by individual market participants to get well-known brands have always been and intensified for some time in 2022. But the state has shown that it continues to protect intellectual property, including international companies, the expert points out. Olga Zinovieva also says that already in 2023, the number of disputes about the protection of Western brands decreased after an increase in 2022.
Unilever Rus LLC, which is part of Unilever, in February—March 2024 became the rightholder of several trademarks that previously belonged to foreign structures of the concern, according to Rospatent data. Among them are the brands of cosmetics "Clean Line", "Velvet pens", "Black Pearl", dental products "Forest balm", ice cream "Inmarko", Ekzo, etc. The former trademark holders were the Dutch Unilever IP Holdings B.V. and the British Unilever Global IP.
Unilever Rus stated that the above-mentioned brands belong to the headquarters of Unilever, and Unilever Rus bought the rights to these trademarks registered in Russia in order to protect their use in the country. This will simplify risk management, for example, in case of detection of counterfeit goods, the company added.
Unilever is one of the main manufacturers of food and consumer goods in the world, headquartered in the UK. It produces, among other things, Knorr seasonings and soups, Clear cosmetics, Dove, Axe, Rexona, Cif cleaning products, Domestos, etc. After the start of its production in Ukraine, Unilever's head office announced the suspension of investments, imports and exports in Russia. The local enterprises of the concern continue to work. In 2022, Unilever Rus' revenue decreased by 1.3% year-on-year, to 84.88 billion rubles, net profit increased by 90%, to 9.22 billion rubles.
Semenov & Pevzner partner Yulia Yarnykh says that a local company does not need to legalize foreign documents when protecting trademarks, and in general, position coordination and decision-making are simplified. Only the issuance of a power of attorney for representation in court from a foreign company can take a long time, says Alina Akinshina, CEO of Online Patent.
Lyudmila Lukyanova, a lawyer for Forward Legal, adds that in court, in such disputes, arguments about removing protection from a trademark are often heard only because of the jurisdiction of the copyright holder. Nestle Corporation, for example, transferred trademarks to a local division more than 20 years ago, says Olga Zinovieva, head of the Elecskor law firm. According to her, today such a transfer may also be caused by the desire to distance oneself as much as possible from direct connection with activities in Russia.
As Alina Akinshina notes, prompt response to potential violations for well-known brands of foreign origin has become more important in recent years.
Some entrepreneurs have become more active in imitating well-known brands in the hope that some copyright holders have stopped monitoring violations in Russia, she points out. Yulia Yarnykh says that there are also risks of early termination of trademark protection in claims related to non-use. As an example of one of the latest such disputes, the lawyer cites the lawsuit of the confectionery association "Beloved Land" against the German Rewe Group for the early termination of the legal protection of the Oliver's brand. A preliminary hearing on the case has been postponed until September.
How companies that have left the Russian Federation protect their brands in the country
Alexey Popovichev, executive director of Rusbrand, says that today the "patent trolls" of the early 2000s have been replaced by companies tracking unused brands and trying to cancel the protection of these brands for their own needs, but such cases remain isolated. According to him, attempts by individual market participants to get well-known brands have always been and intensified for some time in 2022. But the state has shown that it continues to protect intellectual property, including international companies, the expert points out. Olga Zinovieva also says that already in 2023, the number of disputes about the protection of Western brands decreased after an increase in 2022.
