French Wine Producer Cannot Register 'Jelzin' Mark in Russia

The Russian Patent Disputes Chamber has recently upheld the Russian PTO’s decision to reject the major French wine producer Les Grands Chais de France’s attempt to register the “Jelzin” trademark in Russia.

The Russian authorities argued that several sources use “Jelzin” as the German-language transliteration of the former Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s last name, including the German-language version of Wikipedia, the Universal-Lexikon encyclopedia and Der Spiegel magazine.

Russiaís PTO argued that the term closely resembles the late president’s name and that it could therefore lead to associations with Yeltsin and Russia and confuse consumers.

The Russian authorities also argued that the French wine producer did not submit the written consent of Yeltsin’s heirs to register his last name as a trademark.

Les Grands Chais de France claimed that Wikipedia cannot be considered an official, trustworthy source of information, stating that the German Brockhaus encyclopedia does not list “Jelzin” as a spelling of the late president’s name.

At the time of going to press, additional details about the possible appeal brought by the French wine producer were not available.

Prepared by: Jelena Jankovic

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Source: Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI)