Appeal granted in Stolichnaya vodka trademark battle

Lawyers Weekly report…

A long-running battle for several Russian trademarks continues as a permanent stay order given in 2019 was revoked last week.

The case has had proceedings in Australian courts since 2004 and involves a cross-claim between by Russian state-owned entity Federal Treasury Enterprise Sojuzplodoimport (FKP) and SPI Group – which owns Spirits International B.V. that produces both the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka brands in Australia. Both parties are claiming ownership of both trademarks, among others.

In November 2019, the case was given a permanent stay order for the cross-claim, which Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represent FKP, appealed. Last week, the court ordered that the appeal be allowed and the previous stay order revoked.

King & Wood Mallesons, which represents SPI Group, was previously victorious in the Federal Court proceedings in 2019 and said in a statement at the time: “The Russian Federation (which the Court has previously found to be the ‘real plaintiff’ in the proceeding) sought to confiscate several Australian trademarks which are owned by SPI Group. The trademarks were owned by a Russian state-owned entity in the early 1990s, and were eventually transferred to SPI Group following privatisation of that entity.

Read more at    https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/31454-appeal-granted-in-stolichnaya-vodka-trademark-battle?utm_source=LawyersWeekly&utm_campaign=26_05_21&utm_medium=email&utm_content=3&utm_emailID=882dfb433067b4011c87c45ff376fe5c42fdf5fc8de3c999c59a0ade0bb38b91