The dealer of the Belarusian plant TORGMASH registered on his behalf the trademarks, under which the TORGMASH products were sold on the Ukrainian market. After the expiration of the dealer agreement (non-exclusive), the right holder disposed of his rights in a strange way: he made an entry to the customs registry and tried to stop the import of products of the Belarusian producer. Under the decision of the Economic Court of Kiev the trademarks were found inconsistent with the trademark protection requirements, the registrations were cancelled. The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Economic Court approved the decision of the Court of First Instance.
We do not recommend our clients to register the rights to marks without the consent of the companies of which they are dealers. We do not share the view of some experts who encouraged to register rights in any way, as it can give any advantage. In our practice, we’ve never witnessed that such actions could lead to better relations between the company and the dealer (agent). In most cases these actions result in the conflict and lead to a deterioration or even a breakdown of relations. We also do not share the views of some lawyers who recommend the holders of unfair registrations to bear the costs striving to defend the rights to registrations till the end with no chance to success.
