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Kremlin And Leading Daily At Loggerheads Over Trademark
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Текст: Irina Kuzmenko
A row between the Kremlin property managers and the Izvestia daily over the use of the renowned Izvestia media brand has hit the headlines this month. Both parties deny media reports that they have begun talks and at present, each party is convinced that it is legally entitled to the use of the trademark.
“Izvestia” is the name of the popular Russian daily, which marked its 85th anniversary last week. The giant state-owned publishing house uses the same name. The conflict emerged in early 90s when the editors and journalists of the daily formed an independent company. The publishing house was then transformed into a state owned unitary enterprise managed by the Presidential property management directorate, but it also kept the name and officially it still owns the copyright for it.
As Izvestia daily celebrated its 85th anniversary, Vladimir Putin visited its office in person to greet the journalists on the occasion. At some moment it seemed that after all the greetings and warm words from the head of the state, the Kremlin would revise its stance and let the paper keep its name of many years.
Nevertheless, last Saturday during his visit to St.Petersburg the Kremlin property chief Vladimir Kozhin told the journalists that his department has been discussing the fate of Izvestia trademark with the daily’s staff. "We are conducting a constructive dialogue with Izvestia, during which we will jointly decide on our future actions," Kozhin told the press.
He stressed that "there is no intrigue about Izvestia's trademark. There are documents which are at the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks, which is acting as the main arbitrator in this process."
However, Izvestia’s spokesman Mikhail Mikhailov, told Ekho Moskvy radio later in the day that the presidential business management department was not conducting any talks with the paper on the fate of the trademark.
On Monday in an interview to Gazeta.Ru a spokesman for the Kremlin property directorate Viktor Khrekov, too, refuted the reports. Moreover, according to Viktor Khrekov, the date for such talks has not even been set yet.
Thus, both parties have admitted that there is a conflict between them. And Vladimir Putin’s visit to Izvestia office last week did not help to solve it.
In an interview to Gazeta.Ru Viktor Khrekov confirmed the words of his boss Vladimir Kozhin. The parties will decide on the fate of Izvestia trademark jointly, Khrekov said. “The most important thing in this case is that there will be no scandals. Nobody is going to take anything away. Izvestia trademark issue, being of purely technical nature, was artificially swollen by the press”.
According to the spokesman of the Kremlin property management directorate the trademark issue was raised anew by the director general of the publishing house Izvestia Erast Galoumov. Earlier Galoumov was in the coal business in the Northern Vorkuta Region and also worked to implementthe project of building a Formula 1 treck in Moscow. He has been only recently appointed director general of the publishing house. Galoumov reminded of the dispute as soon as he was appointed.
It transpires that the publishing house holds a trademark certificate issued by the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks (Rospatent) in January 1992. In 1999 the publishing house was re-registered as a closed stock company “Publishing House Izvestia”, wherein 51% belong to the Kremlin, and 49% to Russian oil major Lukoil.
In comments for Gazeta.Ru Viktor Khrekov reminded that back in 1998 the publishing house and the daily signed a license agreement authorizing the paper to use Izvestia trademark. Under the agreement the paper could use the brand virtually free of charge – it only had to pay the amount equivalent of the fee the publishing house had paid for the trademark certificate. After the agreement expired it was never prolonged, yet the daily continued to use the trademark.
According to Khrekov, it is quite likely that the dispute between the parties will be settled as soon as they enter into a new agreement on the use of the trademark. “Anyway the issue will be examined in the Rospatent, and not in court,” the spokesman said. However, the date for the talks has not been set yet, “since the presidential property directorate has more important things to do than considering disputes with the paper”.
It is worth noting that the newspaper staff, too, has a document, issued by Rospatent on April 27, 2000 whereby the agency recognizes the Open Stock Company Izvestia newspaper as a legitimate owner of the trademark Izvestia.
Now the lawyers of both parties examine the conflicting documents, issued by the same authority – Rospatent – in 1991 and in 2000, in an attempt to work out the compromise on the issue.
19 МАРТА 15:54
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