MOSCOW, March 13 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has held against Champagne Louis Roederer involved in a litigation with the patent authority since 2009 over its trademark registration.

Louis Roederer was founded in 1776 and is one of the oldest wine producers in the French province Champaign.

The lawsuit deals with the patent watchdog's 2008 decision which invalidated the registration of the Cristal trademark in Russia, owned by the claimant. This was done on the application of Soyuzplodoimport, which owns the Kristal trademark registered for vodka. Soyuzplodoimport claimed that both trademarks will be perceived by consumers as transliteration of the Russian word "kristall" (En. crystal).

The court ordered expert appraisal that the trademarks are similar in many aspects.

Champagne Louis Roederer maintained at the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks that the goods are not similar since vodka producers have never produced and will hardly ever produce champagne.

Earlier Champagne Louis Roederer told RAPSI that it has the trademark certificate granted by the Russian Empire in 1909.