Rospatent rejects rude ‘booze’ trademark

Russia’s IP office, Rospatent, has rejected a trademark application for a slang word connoting heavy alcoholic drinking.

Drinks company Zolotaya Manufactura applied for “Vyp (Buhalo)” – which sounds like “bottoms up” in slurred speech followed by a slang word for “booze” – for a Vodka drink.

The label features a picture of a vyp, a bird similar to a crane, and the name “Buhalo” written below in Latin letters.

But according to the Moscow Times, Rospatent rejected the application for contravening public interest and moral principles.

“Buhalo” is a very rude Russian word, said Igor Motsnyi, partner at Motsnyi Legal Services/Standmark in Moscow, and Rospatent refuses trademarks for rude words “99 percent of the time”.

“If an application is on the border of indecency or rudeness, there is a right to refuse it,” he said.

He added: “Given the legislation and the established practice, this was the correct decision, especially as it covered an application for alcoholic drinks, which are taken very seriously.”

The Moscow Times reported that Zolotaya will appeal against the decision and that its plans to develop the brand have not been adversely affected. The company can lodge an appeal with Rospatent’s appeal board and, if that complaint is unsuccessful, it can take the case to a state court.

But Motsnyi said he believed an appeal would be unsuccessful.

“The system is not ready for these kind of marks... Maybe it will change in five or 10 years.”

Zolotaya has previously tried to register “Belochka. Ya prishla!”, an idiomatic Russian reference to alcoholic delirium tremors, according to the Moscow Times, but it was unsuccessful.