THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
18 December 1970 France, on behalf of 25 EU countries, called for the decriminalization of same-sex relations.1970 France, on behalf of 25 EU countries, called for the decriminalization of same-sex relations.1970 The slavery was abolished in the United States.1970 the slavery in the United States was abolished.1970 The anthem of the Russian Empire “God Save the Tsar!” was performed for the first time.
FORTES COMPANY GOES BANKRUPT DUE TO THE MISUSE OF THE ‘AWAITER’ MEME
FORTES COMPANY GOES BANKRUPT DUE TO THE MISUSE OF THE ‘AWAITER’ MEME
The Arbitration court of Moscow recognized bankruptcy of the Fortes company insolvent due to a debt of 5 million rubles. The initiator of the claim was the Ci Land Contact firm, to which the defendant did not pay the compensation set by the court as a sanction for infringement of intellectual property rights. The firm illegally used the image of the ‘Awaiter’ identical to the trade mark.
Originally posted on the Internet as a popular meme, the Awaiter is reminiscent of a sculpture by a Dutch artist. The original sculpture, created by Margrit van Brevort, was called Homunculus loxodontus. And although the popularity of the legless character, who combined the body of a larva, the head of an elephant seal and a man doomedly sitting on a chair, was gradually fading away, the CD Land Contact did not lose time and acquired the rights to it.
The representatives of the Intellectual Capital company, who participated in the registration of the image as a trademark, faced difficulties.
Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property initially refused to register the character, citing a lack of distinctiveness. As a result, additional evidence and arguments had to be presented. However, after the certificate had been obtained, the rightholder began to file claims against many persons, claiming the recovery of millions of rubles.
Some arbitration claims were lost by the applicant. In January 2021, Rusbankrot wrote about the case of Igramir company, which managed to defend its interests in court. At the end of 2019, the company filed a similar lawsuit against the social network VKontakte, which was accused of violating the rights by using stickers with the image of Awaiter.
In some cases, the participants in the proceedings managed to sign amicable agreements and the company withdrew the claims.
The Fortes company, which was engaged in selling
souvenirs (notebooks, bags, T-shirts, etc.) with the image of Awaiter on its
website, could not settle the conflict amicably. On July 16, 2019, the arbitration court found
the company guilty of a violation of intellectual property rights and ordered
to recover the maximum compensation (5 million rubles). The company failed to pay the necessary
amount, which resulted in a bankruptcy claim.
Website Rusbankrot.ru uses cookies. If you continue to browse our pages, you agree to this condition. You can change the cookie settings in the browser settings.