Trademark dispute resolved: ‘clover’ and ‘clever’ are distinct in Russian markets

Before entering the Russian market, Chinese companies expanding their presence often register trademarks for their products. Trademarks registered by Chinese companies fall into several categories: Chinese characters (rarely), Latin letters, or their combinations. Cyrillic is rarely used. In this case, Wenzhou Mingyu Knitting Co., Ltd. filed and obtained registration No. 1059689 for Клевер цвета (English: Clover of Color) in Class 25. It is difficult to decipher what this means in Russian and why this word combination was chosen. Some suggest this is a transliteration of the English “Clever Color,” which might make more sense, as the Russian word “клевер” means a flower, “clover,” while the same word in English means “clever” (wise).

Wenzhou Mingyu Knitting Co., Ltd.’s goods are not widely known in Russia. Nevertheless, one year after the registration, an entrepreneur appealed against the registration because, according to them, the contested trademark is confusingly similar to CLEVER WEAR (No. 385599), (No. 558014), and several other similar trademarks registered in their name in the same and other Classes. The appellant argued that similarity is conditioned, in the first place, by its phonetic form, КЛЕВЕР/CLEVER, and its semantic meaning. The word combination “Клевер цвета” (Clover of Color) has no meaning; hence, only the word “clover” would be perceived by the consumer.

The appellant has several trademarks with the same designation, “clever,” which further contributes to the confusion among the trademarks. As a result, the appellant asked the Chamber of Patent Disputes to cancel the registration of Wenzhou Mingyu Knitting Co., Ltd.

The owner of the trademark CLEVER retorted that, although the appellant claims the words are phonetically identical, the combination “клевер цвета” (Clover of Color) will be read differently by consumers: the Russian word “клевер” will be understood as a blossoming flower. In contrast, the word “clever” in the appellant’s trademark will be understood in its original meaning as “wise.”

English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, so most people will understand the word “clever” to mean “clever.” Accordingly, the trademark CLEVER WEAR will likely be understood as it is written. The trademark owner also submitted a judgment from the IP court in a similar case (the Russian word “легенда” versus the French word “legende”). The court dismissed the appellant’s claim and upheld the owner’s trademark.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Chamber of Patent Disputes concluded that the trademarks of both parties are registered in Class 25. Wenzhou Mingyu Knitting Co., Ltd.’s trademark and the entrepreneur’s trademarks are written in different alphabets and use different font styles, which produce different visual impressions.

As for the word combination in the trademark, though it may not make sense to some, it may be perceived as evoking thoughts of a specific plant and its flower in the consumer’s mind. The cited trademarks include the word “clever,” e.g., CLEVER WEAR. Thus, the compared designations produce different impressions in consumers’ minds. On the one hand, this is a plant and its flowers; on the other hand, clever clothes. Even though the compared designations share phonetically similar elements (clover/clever), they are not similar overall.

Finally, the collegium of the Chamber of Patent Disputes concluded that the compared designations are not similar and dismissed the entrepreneur’s appeal.