Cancellation process of unused trademarks in Russia has now changed as of 12 July 2017

Further to our article of 4 April 2017 the expected changes to the cancellation process of unused trademarks in Russia have entered into force on 12 July 2017.

According to the changes made to the Russian Civil Code, the cancellation process of unused trademarks has been specified. Prior to filing a claim with the IP Court it will be necessary to send a warning letter to the owner of the unused mark and ask the owner to voluntarily withdraw the unused trademark from the register or to assign it to the sender. In case the owner of the unused trademark does not react to this request, it will be possible to start court proceedings. The owner of the unused mark will have two months to respond to the letter.

In case of court proceedings it would be necessary to prove the use of the mark within three years prior to the date of sending the warning letter. Any usage which has started after the warning letter will not be considered as a proper use of the mark.

For any further information, please contact Ms Annikki Hämäläinen.