01.12.2021

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv sided with Ukrainian showman Oleksiy Durnev, who sued his former TV channel, which belonged to the TV company “TET”.

Thus, in 2017, Oleksiy Durnev filed an application for registration of the mark for goods and services “Doctor Durnev”, “Durnev” and “Durnev”. Ukrpatent refused to register, as in 2014 the TET TV channel received registration for almost identical TMs.

Oleksiy Durnev stated in his lawsuit that the names registered by the TM TV channel reproduce his last name, and he did not give such consent.

The TV channel strongly disagreed with the plaintiff’s statement. It was explained that Durnev had to prove that he was a famous person at the time the TV channel submitted applications to Ukrpatent.

TET TV ordered an expert examination in the field of intellectual property, which led experts to conclude that Durnev was not a famous person as of 2013, and therefore the signs did not reproduce the name of Alexei Durnev.

However, the plaintiff provided the court with additional evidence that his client was a famous person. In particular, this was confirmed by screenshots from Youtube, dated 2011-2013, and Oleksiy Durnev, as a result of his professional activity, gained wide popularity as a TV presenter, Internet blogger, and actor.

The court sided with the plaintiff and declared the TV channel’s certificates and TM invalid in their entirety.