IP Office Refuses Putin

An individual entrepreneur filed a trademark application no 2018755695. The trademark application is a combined designation as below.

It includes a black horizontal rectangle with a word element "ПУТИНА" ("Putina") above which there is a non-protectable word element "gastrobar" with diamond-shaped geometrical figures on the sides. In Russian, Putin+a is the word "Putin" in the genitive case.

The IP office refused registration because the designation is not in the public interest. The decision of the IP office was motivated by the fact that the claimed designation includes a word element "Putina" (the genitive form of "Putin") which is phonetically similar to the name of the Russian president and may be understood as meaning "Gastrobar belonging to Putin." Thus, the claimed designation was categorised among designations which may provoke the indignation of the public because of the inclusion therein of the name of a well-known political figure.