Brands washed in the Union State

The Novosibirsk manufacturer of TeoN and Stiray washing powders, having entered the Belarusian market, encountered serious difficulties there. The local distributor, without notifying the Russian side, registered these brands in his name. Now the owner of the trademarks intends to challenge the actions of the counterparty. Lawyers and manufacturers say that such cases are not uncommon in Belarus and advise registering intellectual property rights in this country before starting to supply your products.

Kommersant obtained a letter in which the Novosibirsk Household Chemicals Plant (NZBH) notified its partners of a violation of intellectual rights by one of its distributors in Belarus, OptRetail LLC. This company, without the knowledge of NZBH and “taking advantage of imperfect legislation,” registered in the republic the rights to the TeoN and Stiray brands of washing powders, produced by the Novosibirsk manufacturer.

General Director of NZBH Rafis Aroslanov told Kommersant that the actions of OptRetail “block the supply of NZBH products” to Belarus and threaten the company with a loss of over 70 million rubles. in year. TeoN and Stiray powders are recognizable in this country and are sold locally, he says. Registration of rights to these brands by the distributor, according to Mr. Aroslanov, misleads Belarusian consumers regarding the manufacturer of the products.

A representative of NZBH explained to Kommersant that the company began supplying TeoN and Stiray powders to Belarus in March 2023 and did not have time to register the rights to these brands in the country. Registration of trademarks in the Russian Federation according to the national system does not provide it with legal protection in Belarus, explains Natalia Zhuk, head of the Intellectual Property practice at the Minsk law firm GRATA International. According to her, this is often used by “unscrupulous persons to prevent a foreign brand owner from selling their products in the country or from receiving material benefits.”

OptRetail did not respond to Kommersant’s request. But in a letter available to Kommersant, sent to the Novosibirsk manufacturer, the distributor argues for registering the TeoN and Stiray brands in Belarus by “protecting its investments, interests and the work done to introduce and expand the representation of NZBH products in the republic.”

Now NZBH, as the company told Kommersant, is preparing an appeal to the antimonopoly authority of Belarus about unfair competition and a package of documents to invalidate the decision to register the disputed marks in the republic. But this process may take at least six months, the company clarified.

Rafis Aroslanov calls the registration of Russian brands in a neighboring country without the knowledge of their copyright holders “unprecedented.” But lawyers and consumer goods manufacturers interviewed by Kommersant say that situations with intellectual property violations in Belarus are not uncommon. Problems can be avoided if, before introducing products to a new market, you register the rights to the brand in the appropriate jurisdiction, notes Vasily Zuev, head of the intellectual property practice of the Intellectual Capital law firm. But in Belarus, for example, this process takes three months, says one of Kommersant’s interlocutors from among manufacturers in the FMCG segment.

If an antimonopoly case is initiated in Belarus, the NZBH will have to prove that the local distributor, using a brand known in the local market, is trying to obtain illegal advantages and causes harm to the copyright holder in the form of lost profits in the republic, explains Kulik & Partners Law.Economics lawyer Asiya Radjabova. In Russian judicial practice, brand owners mostly manage to challenge the illegal actions of distributors, adds Vasily Zuev. But NZBH has a chance to challenge the actions of OptRetail in Belarus – this country, like Russia, has signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Ms. Radjabova believes. Article 6. Septies of the Convention, according to her, gives the right to the owner of brands to demand cancellation of their registration by the distributor.

Khalil Aminov, Anna Zanina