In the Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Soyuz-Vino requested that OOO Vilash-Champagne Wine Factory be banned from producing sparkling wine under the Charmant La Fee brand. The factory produces a range of such wines in aluminium cans. The name is placed on a coloured background with geometric figures and a stylised figure of a fairy.
According to the Southerners, this product infringes Soyuz-Vino’s rights to its trademark, which consists of a coloured background with geometric figures. The plaintiff produces sparkling wine in cans under the brand name La Petite Perle (Perle is the Italian word for “pearl”). The name itself is not registered as a trade mark.
In essence, Soyuz-Vino’s claim is that its “fairy” wines are so similar to the plaintiff’s products as to cause confusion. It should be noted that Vilash-KShV has registered the rights to the trademarks under which it markets its sparkling wines. The plaintiff asked the court to order Vilash-KShV to destroy all products under the Charmant La Fee brand and to collect 5 million rubles in compensation from the plant.
Vera Zotova, Senior Associatein the IP practice at Nordic Star, commented on the case in today’s Delovoy Peterburg article. You can read it at the link.