Foreign Patent and Trademark Department managed to repress unfair competition in relation to Fats and Oil Integrated Works JSC in Kazakhstan

Under the management of Elena Shchelkunova, Head of Foreign Patent and Trademark Department, YUS’s team successfully completed the case on behalf of Fats and Oil Integrated Works JSC in the competition authority of Kazakhstan concerning the identification of signs of unfair competition in the actions of a competitor. Fats and Oil Integrated Works JSC is a part of Rusagro Group and the largest margarine producer in Russia.

The company discovered that on the territory of the Republic of Kazakstan GLOBAL RETAIL LLP sells margarine under the name of Shchedroe Pole (Generous Field) similar to the trademark Shchedroe Leto (Generous Summer), the holder of which is Fats and Oil Integrated Works JSC, and its packaging duplicates the elements of Shchedroe Leto’s corporate identity.

YUS’s team carried out a comparative analysis of both products and packagings, per results of which it was concluded that GLOBAL RETAIL produces and sells in Kazakhstan the margarine of the identical composition and with the packaging that duplicates the elements of the corporate identity of Fats and Oil Integrated Works’ products. This indicates unfair practices and an attempt to mislead consumers by copying the appearance of goods in general in accordance with the current legislation in the field of competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In order to strengthen legal position, YUS ordered a comparative analysis from National Institute of Intellectual Property Republican State Enterprise of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan to determine the similarity of the above-mentioned labels. In accordance with the conclusion, the labels of the margarines were recognized as confusingly similar.

Based on the results of the consideration of the case, the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan (the competition authority of the country) sent a notification to the infringer about the establishment of the fact of infringement and a request to eliminate the infringement, change the label, stop using the infringing label and prevent acts of unfair competition in the future.