Azamat Ibatullin, a figure in many legal disputes over intellectual property rights, filed a lawsuit against the Perm society Ant+, which, according to the applicant, illegally used the word “Ant” on the sign of its store.
Ibatullin filed a lawsuit on the basis that he owns the Ant trademark, which means that the store operating under the Ant+ brand in the village of Novye Lyady does this without the consent of the right holder and must pay compensation in the amount of 800 thousand rubles ($11.4 thousand).
The court of first instance ruled that Ibatullin did not use his trademark in business and, in principle, did not engage in trade, and dismissed the claim.
At the same time, the appeal and cassation ruled in favor of the plaintiff and recovered from Ant+ the amount indicated in the claim.
The society filed a complaint with the Supreme Court. The applicant indicated that the company and the entrepreneur use the designation in different capacities: the entrepreneur has the right to use the designation for the individualization of services, and the company uses it only in the company name. In addition, the parties to the dispute are located in different regions of Russia, which means that consumers will not be misled.
According to Ant+, Ibatullin’s behavior is “aimed at finding gaps in the law”, and his behavior has signs of abuse of law.
The Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the lower instances and sent the dispute for new consideration to the Arbitration Court of the Perm region.