Associates at EPAM devised and successfully executed a competent strategy to represent ALVIZ, a subsidiary of Russia’s largest alcoholic beverages company Beluga Group, in a trademark infringement dispute, allowing ALVIZ to continue to market its key brand, Arkhangelskaya vodka.

ALVIZ has produced and sold Arkhangelskaya vodka in Russia for many years. In 2010, a competitor, Shampanskiye Vina, registered ‘Arkhangelsk’ as a trademark for its own use and in 2017 filed a claim with the Arkhangelsk Regional Commercial Court. The claim sought to stop infringements of the company’s exclusive trademark rights, eliminate counterfeit production and obtain compensation.

The efforts of the Firm’s Competition Law Practice led the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia to deem Shampanskiye Vina’s registration and use of the trademark ‘Arkhangelsk’ an act of unfair competition. Meanwhile, associates in the Intellectual Property Practice were able to establish that there was no confusing similarity between Shampanskiye Vina’s trademark and the Client’s vodka brands. They also showed that the statute of limitations under which the case could be brought had expired.

Following consideration of the Firm’s arguments, the Arkhangelsk Regional Commercial Court rejected Shampanskiye Vina’s claim and the company’s registration of the ‘Arkhangelsk’ trademark was deemed to be invalid.

Shampanskiye Vina disputed the FAS decision in the Intellectual Property Court, but the latter upheld the position taken by the regulatory body.

Representing the Client in this case were Partner and Co-Head of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Dmitry Dyakin, Head of the Intellectual Property/TMT Practice Pavel Sadovsky, Counsel Denis Gavrilov, Senior Associate Irina Kosovskaya, Associate Alexander Balyberdin and Junior Associate Stepan Abramov.