Red cross background unprotectable as a trade mark
28 April 2014
«AMICO» Cjsc filed a trade mark application for a figurative designation comprising two wide intersecting lines of a red colour for goods in class 10, and services in classes 35, 37,42 and 44. Inside each line there were intersecting ovals of white colour shaped as stylised satellites orbits. The protection was sought in red and white.
The Patent Office rejected the application arguing that the claimed designation included the image of the Red Cross with rounded corners, which is confusingly similar with the designation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, known also as the International Red Cross.
The rejection was issued despite the fact that the applicant had submitted a letter of consent from the
The Patent Office noted that the submitted documents could not justify registration of the claimed designation as a trade mark because the consent was given for the period from March 1 2013 to March 1 2016. On expiration of that term, the registration of the trade mark (the term of which according to the law should be 10 years) would contradict Article 1483 of the Civil Code (which provides that the symbols of international organisations can be registered if agreed by a competent body). The applicant did not agree with the rejection and appealed it. He argued that he was a leading manufacturer of
The Chamber of Patent Disputes accepted the arguments of the applicant and allowed the registration of the designation for which the applicant received a new, perpetual permission from the Russian Red Cross. However the background image of the red cross was allowed as
