MOSCOW, July 17 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Supreme Commercial Court has dismissed the Coca-Cola lawsuit filed to prohibit businessman Oleg Tsirikidze from producing and marketing products that contains design elements similar to those protected by the Coca-Cola copyright, RAPSI learned in the court on Wednesday.

The company claims that it owns several trademarks that are registered with the Russian Patent Agency. The plaintiff asserts that Tsirikidze’s Bochonok brand of non-alcoholic kvas drink contains design elements similar to those protected by copyright. Coca-Cola believes it is a violation of its exclusive trademark rights.

The defendant submitted an expert report written by UNO Marketing to a lower instance court indicating that it was unlikely that consumers would confuse Bochonok with Coca-Cola products. Visually, the two products are easily distinguished, which rules out the likelihood of confusion.

The court concluded that the defendant’s products were distinct and could not be found similar to the extent of confusion with the trademarks owned by the plaintiff.