Russian manufacturer Nemiroff may start producing Demiroff drinks

The well-known alcohol brand Nemiroff with Ukrainian roots may be replaced in Russia. The United Penza Distilleries, which produced Nemiroff vodka and liqueurs, after the brand owner demanded in court to abandon the brand, thought about launching Demiroff drinks. But the renaming may not get rid of Nemiroff’s claims and threatens to reduce sales, experts warn.

United Penza Distillery LLC, which produced Nemiroff vodka and liqueurs, plans to start producing Demiroff strong alcoholic beverages, according to data from the Federal Accreditation Agency. In February-March 2024, the company received declarations of conformity for the bitters Demiroff De Luxe “Honey with pepper on linden honey” and special vodka Demiroff De Luxe. The Kommersant company did not respond.

The owner of the Nemiroff brand, with its main production in Nemirov, Vinnytsia region of Ukraine, announced the revocation of the license to produce drinks in the Russian Federation after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. As Nemiroff CEO Yuri Sorochinsky previously told Ukrainian media, the last licensee was an independent manufacturer in Penza. But, as a Kommersant source on the market noted, the company continued to produce Nemiroff even after the license agreement expired.

In the summer of 2023, Nemiroff Intellectual Property Establishment filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Penza Region to prohibit the United Penza Distillery from using Nemiroff brands, demanding that such actions after February 1, 2022 be recognized as a violation of its rights. As follows from the case file, the meeting should be held behind closed doors until March 28. Nemiroff did not provide comments.

In the A.List rating, Nemiroff vodka produced by the United Penza Distillery took 11th place in sales in 2023. According to A.List, year-on-year sales of the brand increased by 36.3%, to 1.5 million decaliters.

The owner of the Kaufman brand agency, Stanislav Kaufman, notes that in the case of Demiroff, the similarity with Nemiroff can be enhanced by the style of writing the name on the label. But, he notes, it is unlikely that renaming will allow maintaining sales at the Nemiroff level, since many consumers clearly distinguish original products from replicas. But, the expert adds, Demiroff can be sold cheaper than Nemiroff, since royalty payments are not required. And CIFRRA director Vadim Drobiz believes that changing the name to Demiroff will not affect sales if the drinks are associated with Nemiroff.

The Demiroff brand for the class of alcoholic beverages was registered at the end of 2023 by Penza LLC Intellectual Law. According to SPARK, this company in 2019–2021 belonged to the founder of the United Penza Distillery Lyudmila Apoyan. Leading trademark specialist at Online Patent Alina Sidorova notes that Rospatent apparently considered the Nemiroff and Demiroff trademarks to be dissimilar. According to her, the owner of the Nemiroff brand may file a new claim, but the outcome of the case will depend on whether the similarity of the trademarks can be proven.

Patent attorney, managing partner of Zuikov and Partners Sergei Zuikov believes that changing the first letter is unlikely to solve the problem and the owner of the Nemiroff brand can continue the proceedings. As judicial practice has shown, Russia continues to protect the rights of foreign companies to intellectual property, regardless of the country of origin, he points out. Kommersant’s interlocutor on the market notes that the renaming to Demiroff may also be a consequence of an agreement between the parties. As Mr. Zuikov points out, in this case a settlement agreement must be concluded, which is approved by the court.

Well-known alcohol brands with Ukrainian roots have already been renamed in Russia. In 2022, the Rodnik and K and Russian Sever factories, which produced Khortytsya and Morosha vodka from Evgeniy Chernyak’s Global Spirits portfolio, launched the Khorta and Lesnaya Morosha brands. But after the initiation of a criminal case against Evgeniy Chernyak on suspicion of financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine (see Kommersant, December 13, 2023), the business of the enterprises became more complicated, and legal disputes began over the stamps.

Anatoly Kostyrev