Intellectual Property Law

What could be more Russian than Stoli vodka? Apparently, quite a few things. Concluding an unusual dispute over the ?Stolichnaya? trademark, a U.S. District Judge in New York ruled that the trademark is the possession not of a company owned by the government of Russia, but of several distributors of Stoli vodka.

Like a Tolstoy novel, this tale spans decades, involves the collapse of a government and has plenty of intrigue. For many years, the ?Stolichnaya? mark was owned by the Soviet government. When the Soviet Union dissolved 14 years ago, a company called SPI that had distributed Stoli assumed control of the trademarks to six Stoli products. At the same time, Sojuzplodoimport, a company owned by the Russian Federal Treasury Enterprise, insisted it was the rightful owner of the trademarks as the legal successor to the Soviet Union. Added to this mess (we said it was reminiscent of Tolstoy) is a licensing agreement PepsiCo had to distribute Stoli in the U.S. that PepsiCo apparently assigned to other companies after the agreement had expired several years ago.

The dispute landed in Federal Court in New York in October 2004 when Sojuzplodoimport filed a complaint against SPI and other distributors. The defendants moved to dismiss Sojuzplodoimport?s claims that it owns the ?Stolichnaya? trademarks on the ground that the defendants possess incontestable ownership rights. In a decision rendered this week, the District Court agreed with the defendants and dismissed the claims relating to Sojuzplodoimport?s contention that it owns the trademarks. The Court also held that Sojuzplodoimport cannot prevent the distributors of Stoli from characterizing it as ?Russian Vodka? when it is in fact bottled in Latvia. Although several claims remain in the case, the decision essentially represents a complete victory for the defendants. Sojuzplodoimport has stated it plans to appeal.

Will Mother Russia reclaim its prized brand? Stay tuned.

Today's Blogger: Bob Sloss