“Sweet” case

REVERA helped the client to overcome the challenges of trademark registration in Belarus.

A Belarusian manufacturer of confectionery goods filed an objection with the Board of Appeals of the National Centre for Intellectual Property against granting legal protection in Belarus for the trademark of REVERA's client - a Russian confectionery factory.  

In its claim, the Belarusian manufacturer pointed to the confusing similarity of the designations, brand awareness on the Belarusian market in relation to its products, as well as the earlier date of registration of their trademark. In addition, it was noted that the Russian competitor actually uses the designation not in the form in which it is registered.

The Board of Appeals rejected the Belarusian manufacturer's objection, which was followed by an appeal of the decision to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus.

REVERA lawyers managed to prove that the designations of the Belarusian manufacturer and the Russian factory have a sufficient level of distinction and are not confusingly similar, and that the issues and variants of use of the designations are not the subject of the dispute.

The peculiarity of the case was that the trademark had been a well-known brand of sweets in the times of the Soviet Union. Issues with the registration of Soviet brands have already been the subject of disputes on numerous occasions, including in court, and therefore the registration of a Soviet brand does not always give the expected result and grant exclusive rights.

As a result, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus agreed with the arguments of REVERA experts and kept the decision of the Board of Appeals in effect, refusing to satisfy the complaint of the Belarusian manufacturer.