The court ordered Rospatent to reconsider its approach after a dispute with LLC "Synergetic."

      June 23, 2026 11:02 Economy The Intellectual Property Court issued a private ruling addressed to Rospatent following a dispute over the trademark "I love my family." The agency was pointed out the necessity to strictly adhere to the norms of the law and a unified methodology when registering designations. The document has been published in the case file.

      The case was initiated by the Nizhny Novgorod manufacturer of household chemicals "Synergetic" and entrepreneur Karina Boguslavskaya. She claimed that the company illegally used the designation "I ♥ my family!" on the packaging of dishwashing, laundry, cleaning products, and soap, which is similar to her trademark, and demanded compensation of over 10.7 billion rubles.

      The Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region completely dismissed the claim in April 2025. However, the appeal in December of the same year took the opposite position: it recognized the use of the designation as illegal, prohibited its application, and ordered "Synergetic" to pay over 750 million rubles in compensation, as well as a judicial penalty for possible further violations.

      The company appealed this decision. In March 2026, the Intellectual Property Court overturned the appellate ruling and upheld the initial dismissal of the claim.

      At the same time, the court issued a private ruling addressed to Rospatent. It stated that granting legal protection to the disputed trademark in this case was recognized as an abuse of rights, as it effectively limited the use of a common phrase that could be used by other market participants.

      The ruling emphasized that it is the agency, not the court, that should prevent such situations at the registration stage. The Federal Service for Intellectual Property must act not at the discretion of an individual expert, but based on unified rules and methodology, taking into account the requirements of civil legislation. The court paid special attention to the necessity of thoroughly analyzing the claimed designations, including considering the provisions of Article 1483 of the Civil Code.

      Rospatent considered the wording too general and appealed to the court for clarification. The agency insisted that the private ruling should clearly indicate what specific violations were committed and what needed to be done to rectify them. On April 15, 2026, the court denied this request, stating that the document was clearly articulated and did not contain ambiguities that would hinder its execution.

      After that, Rospatent filed a complaint, but it was also left unaddressed. The court noted that the agency's arguments were essentially aimed at revising the private ruling itself, the legality of which had already been checked and confirmed earlier.

      As a result, the ruling denying clarification was left unchanged, and Rospatent's complaint was denied.

      Earlier, it was reported that a resident of Nizhny Novgorod was fined for selling goods featuring the image of Cheburashka on a marketplace. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has channels on Telegram and MAX. Subscribe to stay updated on major events, exclusive materials, and timely information. Copyright © 1999—2025 NIA "Nizhny Novgorod". When reprinting, a hyperlink to NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" is mandatory. This resource may contain materials 18+