MOSCOW, February 19 (RAPSI) – The Chamber for Patent Disputes has upheld an earlier Russian Federal Agency for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Rospatent) decision to dismiss a petition of Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL) seeking to discontinue brand protection of a Russian firm, the agency’s records read on Wednesday.

Earlier, Rospatent has registered trademark Lady Crimea as owned by Russian firm Krymskaya Fruktovaya Kompaniya (Crimea Fruit Company), the largest producer of fruits in the Republic of Crimea.

The claimant argued that the design of the trademark of the Russian company could mislead consumers, since its own exclusively owned brands Pink Lady (in English and in Russian) had such components as the word Lady, a graphic element in the shape of a heart, and rose color, used also by the Crimea Fruit Company. 

APAL insisted that the registered trademark imitated its brand without its consent; however, Rospatent dismissed the claim citing the absence of any phonetic or semantic similarity between the trademarks, whereas the time of use and outreach of the brand of the Australian company across Russia’s regions were insufficient to form stable brand associations on the part of consumers so they could be confused by the brand similarities.