Posts Tagged: "Ukraine"

Presumption of Guilt: How Microsoft Won a Protracted Battle on Unlicensed Software in Ukraine

In June 2019, five-years of legal proceedings between Microsoft and Zhytomyrgas PJSC in the Ukrainian courts came to an end. The parties began their battle in the context of criminal proceedings and ended the dispute in the economic court. Microsoft ultimately was successful. Ukraine has been among the countries on the U.S. Special 301 Report, prepared by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, for years due to its high rate of copyright violations. Ukrainian citizens, government agencies and enterprises are no exceptions. At the same time, Ukraine ranks second in Eastern Europe in the number of software developers and number one in the world in the number of developers per 1,000 inhabitants.

Ukraine: 25 Years After the USSR Collapse, Two Countries’ Banks Keep Disputing One Trademark

Two signs “Oschadbank” and “Sberbank” have the same meaning in Ukrainian and Russian, namely, the abbreviation of SBEREGATELNYY BANK (Savings Bank). After the Soviet Union disintegration in 1991, the signs began to be used separately in Ukraine and Russia. Between 2003-2006, Ukrainian Oschadbank JSC registered two trademarks: Oschadbank and Sberbank. In 2007, Sberbank JSC entered the Ukrainian market under the combined sign “Sberbank Rosii” (Savings Bank of Russia) and after a while in 2015 began to use the trademark without the “Rosii” element.

As EU, Ukraine Agreement comes into force uncertainty remains

As of September 1, 2017, the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine came fully into force. For three years Ukrainian legislative and executive authorities were obligated to implement the provisions of the Agreement in the national legislation, however much has not been done… With the Agreement in force without implementing Ukrainian legislation companies can approach the interpretation of European and national law in two ways. Competing companies can, and likely will, differ in their approach to and interpretation of certain provisions and they will have to fight their disputes in court.

Who is the Boss: Legal protection of domain names in Ukraine

According to Ukrainian regulations, there may be several owners for one mark. But what if one of such owners decides to execute the exclusive right without the consent of the other owners? Eventually, disputes may arise, and Ukrainian courts happened to resolve one of such cases; AQUALIFT v. National Center for Medical Technologies LLC (NCMT) and NIC.UA.

The Battle for ‘ODESSA’: The Story of Trademark Registration in Ukraine

Kyiv, Odessa, Crimea, Novy Svet, Inkerman – not only these are the names of locations, but also the signs registered as trademarks for alcoholic beverages, and some cases, the companies themselves, in the Ukraine. The Odessa Sparkling Wine Company has been producing and selling ODESSA branded sparkling wine for more than 20 years now.  However, they have faced an unusual challenge when trying to register ODESSA trademark.