Burger King Corporation has filed a claim against Moscow resident Alexei Makoveyev after he registered website domains, that Burger King claim unlawfully infringe on its trademark rights.
Mr Makoveyev registered the burgerking.su and burger-king.su domains in his own name. Mr Makoveyev is known in Russia as a dealer in what is known as pseudo-franchises. In late 2000 his company was selling franchises of famous company clones, such as ZaraZara. The website domains and logos of these pseudo-franchises are very similar to the originals.
Burger King has brought the claim, which will be heard in late January 2013, in a Moscow Commercial Court. It has been reported in the Russian media that as well as seeking a ban on further use of their trademarks Burger King are also asking the Court to grant an Order that Mr Makoveyev pay damages personally in the sum of $16,000.
As is often the case in disputes such as this the Judge has ordered that Mr Makoveyev be prohibited from assigning the alleged infringing domain names to any third party until the dispute has been resolved.
Solicitors at Gepp & Sons can not only provide you with advice in relation to registering your IP rights but also discuss your ability to sell a licence of the same. Furthermore, if you believe that someone is infringing your IP rights, and your are considering taking action against them, we could provide you with advice and discuss the appropriate steps to be taken.
The above is not legal advice, it is intended to provide information of general interest in current legal issues.
