Russian Company Attempts to Register Defective Olympic Logo as Trademark
In an unusual development, a businessman in Russia has applied to obtain trademark rights for a likeness of the defective Olympic rings, made famous after a technical glitch at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games.
Dmitry Medvedev — not in any way related to the Russian prime minister — has registered an application with the patents office asking for permission to allow his construction company, Miroviye Shedevry, or World Masterpieces, to be able to use four full rings and one closed ring as a trademark, as per reports in RBC Daily on Thursday.
World Masterpieces mainly concentrates in the construction of luxury cottages and pools, has already commenced an advertising campaign using the symbol. Medvedev said in a comment that the real reason behind the application for the trademark was to insure his company against possible claims from the Olympic committee. It is expected by the company that the processing of the trademark application will take a minimum of 12 months, during which time World Masterpieces will be able to continue to use the image in their advertisements.
However, lawyer Vladimir Entin who deals with cases related to intellectual property expects that the application is most likely to be turned down, as the image is likely to be viewed as too similar to the existing Olympic logo. Whatever be the case, Entin said that World Masterpieces have carried out a fantastic PR campaign. He also added that, “Upon annulment of the application, no financial sanctions can be applied to the business,” while the advantages of this type of high-profile publicity will be definitely more than the cost of applying for a patent.
Trademark Registration in Japan
Patent Attorney：Hiroshi Oogai
Address：304 BUREX Hirakawacho 1-5-15 Hirakawa-cho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone：＋81-3-4570-0792
Mail：contact @ trademark-registration-japan.com
