MOSCOW, February 17 - RAPSI. The Russian perfume producer Parfumeria XXI Veka is trying to register the AVATAR perfume brand in court, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the court on Friday.

The company submitted to the Moscow Commercial Court a lawsuit disputing the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks' decision, which refused to register the trademark in April.

The preliminary hearing of the lawsuit was held on Friday.

The service said at the hearing that the reason for the refusal to register the brand was the fact that it displays the name of the famous eponymous movie directed by James Cameron.

The service believes that the registration of the brand will contradict the public's interests, as the perfume producer aims to use someone else's fame for its purpose. The trademark is associated with the 20th Century Fox company, which produced the film. Thus, consumers may be under the impression that the perfume company and Fox entered into a partnership.

Parfumeria XXI Veka said the decision is biased. He added that it is only prohibited to register trademarks with names similar to renowned works without the consent of the exclusive rights' holder. If the rights haven't been registered, he said, the standard is inapplicable.

On Friday, the court called upon 20th Century Fox to take part in the hearings upon the patent service's request, as the company's interests may be affected by the judicial process.

The court will hear the case on April 12.