Ford’s Russian trademark journey ends with well-known status

Ford has secured well-known status for its trademark in Russia, despite its application being initially rejected for not being famous enough among Russian consumers.

The registration was confirmed by the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) on October 11.

In March last year, Rospatent rejected Ford’s claim for well-known status for its logo—a blue oval with the word ‘Ford’ in joined-up white handwriting inside it.

The grounds for refusal centred on a lack of evidence submitted by Ford to Rospatent that its mark had enough recognition among Russian consumers.

Ford had argued that the trademark had been used in Russia since 2007 for cars, car parts and accessories. But Rospatent said the company’s evidence only cited names and addresses of dealerships and nothing about its operations.

Ford appealed against the ruling but in October 2014 the Russian Intellectual Property Court (IPC) upheld Rospatent’s refusal.

The Presidium of the IPC, an appeals division within the court, then ruled that the court was wrong to affirm Rospatent’s rejection and remanded the case back to the court.

In June this year, the IPC reversed its decision and said that Ford’s well-known status application should be approved.

Obtaining well-known status allows right owners to litigate against companies that operate in a different industry but that have been using a similar mark.

Currently there are 156 marks registered with well-known status in Russia including Nike, Adidas and Gazprom.