Infocenter

Essen Production AG established by entrepreneurs Leonid Baryshev and Vadim Maheev failed to recover through the court 1.5 billion roubles of compensation from Kazan Fatty Combine (a member of Nefis Group of Companies) for illegal use of the trademark of "Mayonnaise” by the latter. This follows from the decision of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Essen and Kazan Fatty Combine are neighbors: production facilities of both companies are located in Tatarstan. The relations between these two companies became heated when Kazan Fatty Combine produced mayonnaise in 2010 under the brand name "Mayonnaise» Essen considered that the trademark is confusingly similar to its own brand name "Maheev" which had been presented on the market since 2001: the same yellow background, red lettering, tapering towards the middle of the twisted letter "M". The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) had fined the Kazan Fatty Combine 250 000 rub. for unfair competition, as the FAS reported in 2012. The FAS’s conclusion was based on the results of the poll, which showed that up to half of the respondents considered the packages of "Maheev" and "Mayonnaise" are confusingly similar as the court documents specify. That, in its turn, had led to a drop in sales of "Makheev" claimed Essen at the meetings of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Commission.

Three years later, in September 2015, Essen decided to claim compensation in the size of double cost of the sold "Mayonnaise" from the Kazan Fatty Combine - this right is provided according to Art. 1515 of the Civil Code. “The audit test of Kazan Fatty Combine was taken as a basis”, says the representative of Essen: according to this document in 2010-2012 the total volume of sales of "Mayonnaise" was 787.1 million roubles, that is 1.57 billion roubles when multiplied by two.

However, the court of the Republic of Tatarstan, has not satisfied the claim explaining that Essen has defaulted the limitation period. For the first time the company petitioned the Arbitration Court of Samara region to prohibit Kazan Fatty Combine and its trading partners to use the brand "Mayonnaise" as far back as 2010. “Nothing prevented the combine to file a claim for compensation at that time", - considered the judge of the Arbitration Court of Tatarstan Ilgiz Khasanshin. In his opinion, the three-year limitation period should be calculated from the date when the combine took sauce under the brand "Mayonnaise " out of production, i.e. from June, 2012.

Pavlova&Partners Attorney Consulting Projects Head Sergey Soldatenko considers that the Court has pointed out the commencing date of the limitation period quite properly. “The only thing that makes you think over - why the court took Kazan Fatty Combine internal document on the "Mayonnaise" production end as a basis”, the expert adds.