MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI). The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling of the Moscow Commercial Court in a lawsuit filed by Nike International Ltd. that prohibited Stanislav Drugalyov, administrator of the nike.ru domain, from using the word "nike" in a domain name, a court spokesperson told RAPSI.

Drugalyov's website nike.ru featured a short description of the Ancient Greek goddess Nike.

The court of appeals rejected a claim by Drugalyov against the order of a lower-instance court last January.

Nike International Ltd. sought to prohibit the use of the word "nike" in the defendant's domain name, as the company is the copyright holder of the trademark family which uses the name - in particular, for clothing and footwear.

As the claimant stated in court, the company has operated since 1964 and produces and sells sporting goods. The company has owned the well-known Nike brand name with priority rights since 1979.

The court of first instance satisfied the claim by the American sports goods producer.

Nike Inc. was established in the U.S. in 1964. Originally titled Blue Ribbon Sports, the company adopted the new name, Nike, in 1978. Currently, the company has over 30,000 employees and has branches in over 160 countries. The company is based near Beaverton, Oregon.

A similar ruling was passed on May 29, when the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to prohibit the use by a Russian businessman of the mexx.ru domain name, finding that such was an infringement of Mexx Europe BV's trademark rights. Vladislav Mukhin, a sole business proprietor, registered the mexx.ru website in violation of the company's rights, the Mexx attorney said. The company tried to settle the dispute out of court, but Mukhin asked for EUR 15,000 to stop using the website.