Dostoevsky mark for brandy allowed

Writer Dostoevsky would have hardly experienced any problems with trade marks during his life. In fact, one is unsure whether trade marks had any commercial value in those times in Russia. But now his name has come up in a trade mark problem before the Chamber of Patent Disputes.

There was a trade mark application filed for Dostoevsky in Class 33: alcoholic beverages, brandy in particular. The Patent Office refused the registration and argued that the claimed designation was reproducing the name of a famous Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who was a cultural asset of Russia and therefore registration of his name as a trade mark contradicted public interests.

The applicant appealed the decision of the Patent Office and argued that practice of the Patent Office was such that it had registered trade marks in respect of Class 33 such as Tchaikovsky, Volkonsky, Esenin and Pushkin. He added that he was an ardent supporter of the public movement to protect and publicise the cultural heritage of Dostoevsky and even submitted a letter of consent from the Dostoevsky memorial museum. The Chamber of Patent Disputes considered the appeal and took into account his activities as a supporter of the public movement for propaganda and protection of Dostoevsky cultural heritage and granted the registration.

There is an uncertain implication in the decision. The Chamber stated that «labeling goods with the names of great people of the past has as its aim popularisation and preservation of the memory of those people. Hence, registration of the claimed designation as a trade mark will help retain the memory of Dostoevsky as an outstanding personality which is in accord with public interests». The arguments about popularisation and preservation might be correct if the goods or acts had not been considered by that person to be unacceptable in society.

If a person dedicated his life against the use of natural furs for clothes it would be outright abuse of his memory to register the name as a trade mark for furs. It would be tantamount to registering the name of a famous vegetarian as a trade mark for meat products. It is not clear whether Fyodor Dostoevsky indulged in drinking or fought against alcohol abuse, but what is clear is that when making such statements the Chamber of Patent Disputes should study the attitude of the person in question in relation to the goods for which registration is sought.