MOSCOW, April 24 - RAPSI. France's Champagne Louis Roederer has challenged the Moscow Commercial Court's decision to uphold the patent agency's deregistration of the renowned Cristal trademark.

The court dismissed the Louis Roederer's lawsuit in March and cancelled its trademark protection in Russia.

The lawsuit stems from the 2008 ruling invalidating Cristal at the request of Soyuzplodoimport, which owns the Kristal trademark registered for vodka. Soyuzplodoimport claimed that the trademarks would be seen by consumers as the transliteration of the Russian word "kristall" (En. crystal).

The expert appraisal ordered by court concluded that the trademarks are similar in many aspects.

At the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks, Louis Roederer Champagne argued that their goods are not similar since vodka producers have never produced and in all likelihood will never produce champagne.

The court received the appraisal results in January and resumed the proceedings. Experts hold that the trademarks are highly similar, while the plaintiff declared the opinion biased and not based on law, therefore the appraisal cannot be the basis on which the judgment is passed.
However, the court has sided with the patent regulator.

Established in 1776, Louis Roederer is now one of the oldest wine makers in the French province Champaign. Louis Roederer Champagne has previously told RAPSI that the Russian Empire granted it a trademark certificate in 1909.