IP Court Confirms: A Single Trademark Can Hold Only One Exclusive Right

On September 13, 2024, the Russian Intellectual Property Court (Case No. SIP-572/2024) upheld the decision of Rospatent, rejecting the invalidation of a prior ruling. The case revolved around the prohibition of granting legal protection to multiple identical trademarks for the same list of services registered to the same entity.

Rospatent denied the registration of a new trademark because the applicant already owned a similar mark. The applicant argued that the new mark featured a different font and a unique design for the first letter of the verbal element, but the court deemed these differences insignificant.

The court emphasized that registering an identical trademark for the same goods and services under the same owner contradicts the nature of exclusive rights and violates public interest. Legislation does not allow for multiple exclusive rights to be granted for the same trademark. Each trademark can only be associated with a single exclusive right.