In a hearing on 09.09.2004, the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow refused to satisfy a claim filed by LLC “Bigeo” demanding that the registration certificate of LLC “Fitolon-Nauka”, issued by the Russian Ministry of Health for the biologically-activ

LLC “Bigeo” applied to the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow with a demand that the court declare invalid the registration certificate issued to LLC “Fitolon-Nauka” by the Russian Ministry of Health for the biologically-active additive “Klamin”. LLC “Fitolon-Nauka” figured in the case as a third party, and its interests were represented by the Law firm “YUST.”

This dispute arose in connection with the biological additive that LLC “Fitolon-Nauka” produces on the basis of a patent for the invention (priority of 18.05.93) of an “Aid for treatment of cancer “Klamin”. In its turn, LLC “Bigeo” acquired the rights to the verbal trade mark “Klamin” in 2002, registered on 28.01.99 regarding a group of goods included in Category 5 of the International Classification of Goods and Sevices (ICGS), specifically – medicinal-prophylactic aids with adaptive action and food additives of a medicinal nature.

It should be noted that the former owner of this trademark managed, back in 2002, to ensure a prohibition by the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow on the use of the trademark “Klamin” by “Fitolon-Nauka” regarding ICGS category 05 goods. This rendered “Fitolon-Nauka” incapable of placing its production in the class of pharmaceutical preparations.

In an attempt to attain complete prohibition on the manufacture of the biologcally-active additive “Klamin” by its competitor, LLC “Bigeo” applied to the Arbitration Court with a demand that the Russian Ministry of Health declare invalid the certificate of registration issued to “Fitolon-Nauka”. The Claimant based its case on violation of the Law of the Russian Federation “On trademarks, service marks and naming of places of origin of goods” by the Ministry of Health, and of the rights of LLC “Bigeo” to the trademark.

However, the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow came to the conclusion that the aim of registering the biologically-active additive by the Ministry of Health was to ensure the sanitary-epidemological well-being of the public and to avert the appearance of products harmful to human health on the consumer market. The certificate of registration is a document confirming the compliance of the declared production with sanitary norms and regulations, and the registration of biologically-active additives does not require submission of information regarding trademarks. Therefore, in issuing LLC “Fitolon-Nauka” a registration certificate for the biologically-active additive “Klamin”, the Ministry acted in accordance with the law.

In view of the above, the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow refused to satisy the LLC “Bigeo” claim calling for the declaration of the registration certificate issued by the Russian Ministry of Health for the biologically-active additive “Klamin” as invalid.