Did you know that the number of trademark applications again increased in Russia in 2019? There were over 10 000 more national trademark filings and 1 400 more international trademark filings than in 2018.
All trademark applications in Russia in 2019:
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Total number of national trademark applications | 44476 | 43762 | 50639 | 56332 | 58658 | 68 705 |
| Total number of International TMs | 16712 | 17715 | 14123 | 17178 | 17404 | 18804 |
| Number of rejection decisions | 11988 | 10271 | 8596 | 9035 | 9507 | 10512 |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
| Russian applicants | 34174 | 34304 | 41523 | 46600 | 49122 | 58616 | |
| Foreign applicants | 10302 | 9458 | 9116 | 9732 | 9536 | 10089 | |
| Total | 44476 | 43762 | 50639 | 56332 | 58658 | 68705 | |
About 15% of national applications were filed by foreigners. See below the top foreign filers:
These statistics show that in spite of international sanctions placed against Russia, Russia is still an attractive country in terms of intellectual property rights protection. Further, the numbers demonstrate that national filings are still a more popular way to protect trademarks.
“The reason for companies to file more national trademark applications is twofold: Russian applicants file national applications because trademarks are mostly used and protected in Russian Cyrillic characters which are used in Russia”, explains Papula-Nevinpat’s Riikka Palmos, Trademark Lawyer.
“In addition, foreign companies file national applications to cover the Cyrillic version of their trademarks in Russia because protecting a trademark in Cyrillic as an international trademark in Russia is not reasonable, as there are different Cyrillic characters used in different CIS countries”, adds Riikka.
Sometimes the Russian Patent Office, Rospatent, refuses a trademark application. The examiner’s refusal can be first appealed to the Patent Disputes Chamber (PDC) of Rospatent. The decision of the PDC can be further appealed to the IP Court.
The following numbers show that the Court tends to follow Rospatent’s decisions. This demonstrates that appeals filed with the IP Court must be well prepared and grounded in order to be successful.
| 2018 | 2019 | |
| Number of appeals against Rospatent’s decisions at Court | 226 | 257 |
| Appeals accepted | 52 | 64 |
| Appeals refused | 174 | 193 |
Do you need help in protecting your brand also in Russia? We at Papula-Nevinpat would be happy to assist you in all trademark matters in Russia and the Eurasia region.
The attack of Russia to Ukraine in February has also affected the IP field. Sanctions imposed against Russia and the counteractions of Russia against unfriendly countries have raised uncertainty and concern among IP right holders. Read more in an article by our IP experts Riikka Palmos and Annikki Hämäläinen.
In trademark as well as patent firm rankings in Finland, Papula-Nevinpat continues in the top tiers in Managing Intellectual Property’s IP STARS 2022, the guide to the world’s leading IP firms and practitioners.
A rightsholder’s size and patent footprint may help decide whether they participate in the new patent and court, explain Folke Johansson and Tomi Konkonen of Papula-Nevinpat. Read the article in the latest issue of the World Intellectual Property Review (issue 2/2022).
Papula-Nevinpat has once again been ranked as one of the leading patent firms in Finland in the 2022 edition of Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals – in the patent prosecution category. Six Papula-Nevinpat patent attorneys identified as top patent practitioners in Finland.
