MOSCOW, February 26 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court will hear the lawsuit filed by the Aqualife soft drinks company against Heineken Ceska republica to terminate the legal protection of the Krusovice trademark on March 14, the court told RAPSI.
"Parallel" or "grey" imports are goods imported from another country without the permission of the official manufacturer.
According to the Register of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent), the Krusovice brand was registered in Russia in 2004 as the property of Heineken Ceska republica in relation to just one commodity, beer, and the registration expiry date is September 2013.
An Aqualife representative said during the pretrial hearing on February 26 that the company is seeking to use the trademark for legally marketing the commodity.
One of Heineken Ceska republica's lawyers argued that Aqualife only imports the products and will not use the trademark.
In November 2012, the Presidium of Russia's Supreme Court heard a lawsuit filed by a self-employed businessman from Vladivostok against the city's customs service and ruled that parallel imports without the permission of the trademark holder are illegal.
The court said that "in accordance with Article 1487 of the Civil Code, the use of a trademark by other persons with regard to goods imported by the intellectual property owner or with their permission does not constitute a violation of the exclusive right to a trademark.
"Thus, if a commodity bearing a registered trademark is not imported by the rights holder or is imported by other persons without the permission of the rights holder, this amounts to intellectual property infringement", the court added.
Heineken is one of the biggest brewing companies in the world. It operates in 71 countries, including Russia, where it began business in February 2002 after buying its first brewery in St. Petersburg.
Currently Heineken owns eight breweries in Russia. The company's portfolio contains around 30 brands, including the popular international trademarks Heineken, Amstel Premium Pilsener, Zlaty Bazant, Guinness and Desperados.
