MOSCOW, April 2 - RAPSI, Fyodor Shatsillo. The Federal Service for Intellectual Property has denied legal protection for the FORMULA 1 trademark owned by the major automobile chemical goods manufacturer Northern Labs, Inc.

Northern Labs tried to register in Russia its trademark for car care products manufactured in over 60 countries.

Nevertheless, the patent regulator refused to provide legal protection to the company, arguing that FORMULA 1 is confusingly similar to trademarks registered by other parties.

For instance, Dutch Formula One Licensing B.V. owns the rights to all Formula-1 trademarks for Nice Classification 3rd class goodsItaly's BENCOM S.r.l. also has a similar trademark.

Northern Labs, Inc. attempted to challenge the decision in January with the Patent Disputes Chambers board, referring to its ownership rights to the FORMULA 1 expression in many countries, including the United States, the EU, Argentina and Australia. It argued that Formula One Licensing B.V. did not object to its trademark registration and the Italian company's trademark looks differently.

Northern Labs, Inc. is registered in the United States.