MOSCOW, February 8 - RAPSI. A court has held against an international sports society in its lawsuit against the patent watchdog's decision to partially strip FC Spartak Moscow of its rights to the SPARTAK trademark, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports on Wednesday.

Spartak Moscow is one of the most popular football clubs in Russia.

The Spartak International Fitness and Sports Society named after Nikolai Starostin filed a petition with the Rospatent patent agency in 2009. The society argued that it obtained the rights to the trademark prior to FC Spartak Moscow.

Rospatent partially satisfied the petition in 2010, but allowed FC Spartak Moscow to retain rights to most of its SPARTAK-branded goods and services. However, the society challenged the judgment with the Moscow Commercial Court.