MOSCOW, July 19 - RAPSI. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals will hear on August 20 Baltika Brewery's appeal against the court ruling validating the patent authority's refusal to register the Zatecky Gus trademark, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency on Thursday.

The Moscow Commercial Court refused to satisfy the lawsuit to dismiss the watchdog's decision.

Baltika, which has been producing Zatecky Gus since 2009, sought to register the trademark for beer produced from hop planted in the Czech town of Zatec.

Rospatent refused to register the trademark, arguing that the reference to the Czech town may mislead people as to the beer's country of origin.

The brewery challenged the watchdog's decision in the Patent Disputes Chamber, pointing out that few consumers have sufficient knowledge of geography or brewery to establish a clear association with the Czech town given the average level of education.

Nevertheless, the chamber held against the company.

Baltika contested the refusal with the Moscow Commercial Court, filing an appeal on January 12. The company asked the patent agency to register two trademarks - "Zatecky Gus" and the label of the Baltika-produced beer of the same name.

Baltika runs 11 breweries in Russia and one in Azerbaijan. It owns over 40 brands and exports products to 70 countries. The brewery accounts for about 70 percent of Russia's beer exports.