Brand Protection Team in Russia
A brand is a part of a company that concentrates all the best that has been achieved and is now available to the consumer. Values, quality, design and technology are combined into one concept, the sign and symbol of the company – the brand. The law does not protect the values and meaning that the brand symbolizes, but provides rights to protect the name, image, sound, or even the smell of a trademark.
The main threat to the Internet trademark is counterfeit and counterfeit.
Virtually no known trademarks that are not forged. Counterfeit products are sold in Russia via the Internet, on the websites of online stores, in social networks and in ad services. Sellers do not always hide the fact that the goods are fake, and many are even proud that they sell fakes, in their opinion, with quality not worse than the originals. The counterfeit market is like a disease that is evolving and with which it is becoming increasingly difficult to fight with conventional methods. Protecting a trademark on the Internet is a doable task if you contact Proright.
How to protect a trademark in Russia?
To protect a brand, you must have the appropriate rights. The right to protection of a trademark is granted by Russian or international law. The right to protect a brand arises from the moment of state registration of a trademark or from the moment of filing an application for registration (priority date). Despite the abundance of rights and tools to protect trademarks provided by law, such rights are limited and are exhausted under certain conditions. Exhaustion of rights means that third parties can use the brand without the consent of the owner.
In EU countries, the rule is that if the goods are sold, the trademark holder “exhausts” the right to influence the future fate of the goods.
And so, to protect your brand, you need to register it. Only after registration of a trademark can you legally make a complaint. If a company or an entrepreneur does not own the brand, but has such rights, for example, under a license agreement, it can also protect the trademark.
Trademark Protection Tools
At the disposal of the trademark owner there is a set of legal tools with which the right holder can use, depending on the situation.
Three main methods of dealing with violations:
- civil law
- criminal law
- administrative and legal
The choice of method or methods for protecting a trademark depends on the purpose of the brand owner. Each method has advantages and disadvantages; methods can be combined and used separately.
Method 1
The civil law mechanism includes the pre-trial and judicial protection of a trademark. When using this method of protection, the owner prohibits the use of a trademark on the Internet and collects damages from the offender. The differences between the judicial and pre-trial method of protecting a brand are significant only in terms of time and cost of expenses, while the effectiveness of pre-trial protection may be higher. Just as the civil law method is divided into judicial and pre-trial (out-of-court) defense, each separate method is divided into instruments used at the discretion of the right holder.
Method 2
For the application of the criminal law method, it is necessary to repeatedly violate the right to buy a badge, service mark or cause major damage (more than 250,000 rubles). This method is used to detect counterfeit from large or well-known online stores.
Method 3
Used to protect a regional market against counterfeit or to protect a trademark on the Internet when used in advertising. For example, in advertising “by competitors”. The use of administrative methods helps to obtain information about the violator and the number of violations.
Any method can be applied after preparation, which is based on the identification of the violation and the collection (fixation) of evidence. The use of these methods as tools to protect a trademark requires the contractor to have legal knowledge, experience in protecting intellectual property on the Internet and access to resources that improve the monitoring and elimination of violations.
Problems of protection of a trademark on the Internet.
Not always having a registered trademark is a solution. To apply these methods and methods of protecting a trademark on the Internet, you must be able to overcome obstacles, such as the lack of reliable data about the owner of the site or domain, the unknown email address or e-mail address of the offender, the use of traffic filtering systems by the site or replaceable DNS server settings. The absence of data or the use of inaccurate information by the copyright holder will lead to the fact that it will become more difficult and more expensive to protect the trademark.
PRORIGHT experts will choose the most effective way to protect your rights and will do everything to ensure the protection of your trademark.
When you think of counterfeit goods, does your imagination instantly present fashionable handbags and cheap fakes of clothing? You may have ordered one of the cheap fakes with good intentions only to understand that you were deceived in the online store when you receive your non-standard package in the mail.
Counterfeit drugs
Counterfeit includes not only the production and forgery of consumer goods. There are more complex forgeries, such as phones, electronic devices or car parts. The use of fakes leads to premature breakdowns, which will have to be fixed at their own expense. The consequences of using fake medicine are more than the humiliated ego, because such products can be harmful to health. Although it may seem unrealistic, the consequences of using counterfeit drugs can actually lead to the death of the consumer.
Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals
Imagine you are sick. Your head is splitting, you are full of mucus and sputum, and your body is so emaciated that the thought of getting out of bed and going to the kitchen gives you an even more headache than you already have. But you ordered online medications with a good discount, so you should soon feel better.
In addition, this drug is entirely made up of your usual bath cleaners and does not contain any traces of legal pharmaceutical ingredients. But you do not know this, because it is packed in the right box and looks like a real cure. Therefore, you accept it without suspecting anything, and you again go to your bed, it is not known how much.
If you think that this is a very rare occurrence, then you will be shocked to learn that in Germany in the fall of 2018 hundreds of people suffered from the use of counterfeit medicines. The drug, under the brand “Sutent”, was recalled from pharmacies throughout Germany, but this did not help the grave state of the patients who took the counterfeit drug. Many of the victims used fake medicine for several months, and some for several years.
Awareness of the problem of protecting a brand from counterfeiting is key in such circumstances. In fact, there is a huge illegal market for counterfeit pharmaceuticals because it is beneficial for pharmacies, suppliers and manufacturers, and relatively safe in terms of government prosecution. Counterfeits can be found all over the world, on most online platforms, online stores, in groups and communities on social networks, and even in a market that seems to be the most secure, for example, Germany – a country known for its strict rules and bureaucracy. It is a smuggled and counterfeit drug “Sutent”, brought from Greece, the cost of delivery was millions of euros. And this is just one of the fake drugs that have been able to identify the market.
For those who live far from megacities, buying an inexpensive drug on the Internet may well be the only option. Unfortunately, people who live in the most severe conditions and need the best medical care are those who actually buy goods through the Internet and are therefore most vulnerable to counterfeit pharmaceutical products. In difficult life circumstances and with health problems, these consumers are victims of using fake medicines that too often can cost them their lives.
QUANTITY OF CONTRACT – dark numbers
The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that one out of ten drugs in developing countries is poor quality or counterfeit. This means that people who have the least amount of access or means of obtaining quality medical care that they need are the most susceptible and prone to purchasing counterfeit medicines. Approximately one third of the world no longer has access to basic medical services. 10% of those receiving medical treatment receive pharmaceutical preparations that have illegal and dangerous active agents, have either expired use, or are misused. Many legal drugs are demanding storage conditions, for example, some drugs can only be stored chilled. Violation of storage conditions also leads to loss of medicinal properties of drugs. But most people suffer precisely from counterfeits, counterfeit and fraud of people looking for quick profits.
MESSAGES ABOUT CONTRACT DRUGS
The more people report counterfeit goods and illegal sellers, the fewer the counterfeit products available on the Internet become. Blocking sites selling illegal pharmaceuticals can protect the health of consumers.