Stolychnaya Case: Strasbourg – New York – The Hague

Essential Reading:

1)      ECHR (2007)

European Court Dismisses Claim over Stolichnaya Dispute (2007)

http://www.kommersant.com/p772702/r_500/European_Court_Stolichnaya/

2)      US (2005-2015)

STOLICHNAYA Case Still Alive, Just Barely (2014)

http://propertyintangible.com/2014/09/stolichnaya-case-still-alive-just-barely.html

3)      Netherlands (2003-2015)

Stolichnaya Belongs to Russia, Dutch Court Tells Vodka Tycoon (2015)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-25/stolichnaya-belongs-to-russia-dutch-court-tells-vodka-tycoon

Additional reading:

1)      ECHR (2007)

"Not your vodka", ECHR tells Russian business (2007)

http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2007/06/not-your-vodka-echr-tells-russian.html

2)      US (2005-2015)

Fed. Treasury Enter. Sojuzplodoimport v. Spirits Int’l N.V. (2010)

http://www.finnegan.com/files/upload/Incontestable_Oct10_2.html

3)      Netherlands (2003-2015)

Important Victory for Russian State Company FKP SOYUZPLODOIMPORT and Its TM Rights on World Renowned Vodka Brand STOLICHNAYA (2015)

http://www.hoyngmonegier.com/fr/article/20150330/hoyng-monegier-has-achieved-important-victory-rotterdam-district-court-dispute-conc

Dutch Supreme Court Confirms the Rights in the Famous Vodka Brands “STOLICHNAYA” and “MOSKOVSKAYA” Belong to the Russian Federation (2013)

http://www.hoyngmonegier.com/article/20131220/dutch-supreme-court-confirms-rights-famous-vodka-brands-%E2%80%9Cstolichnaya%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cmoskovsk

Technical reading:

ECHR 2007 Judgment

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-80956

US 2010 Judgment

http://ru.scribd.com/doc/39058689/Federal-Treasury-Enter-v-Spirits-Int-l

Dutch Supreme Court 2013 Judgment (Summary)

http://www.inta.org/TMR/Documents/Volume%20104/vol104_no2_a1.pdf

(see pages 580-581)

Issues for discussion:

1)      Who was the original owner of the STOLYCHNAYA trademark?  How did it end up in the hands of a private person in most copuntries other than Russia?  What are grounds on which Russia claims the mark back?

2)      Why are the issues of the trademark ownership decided separately in different jurisdictions?  Should they? Perhaps Russian courts’ rulings should be decisive for all countries?

3)      What does the human rights court (ECHR) have to do with trademarks? Is the trademark case its business at all?

4)      What were the arguments of the parties in the ECHR?  What was the Court’s judgment?   What was its reasoning?

5)      Did the ECHR resolve the trademark ownership issue on the merits?

6)      What were central issues of the US litigation?  What is “incontestability”?  What is the difference between the invalidation of a trademark and the invalidation of its assignment?

7)      Which grounds of Russia’s claims were dismissed by US courts? Which ones are still alive? What do you think the probable ultimate outcome is?

8)      What were central issues of the Dutch litigation?  What was the essence of the “tolerance vs. bad faith” argument in the Supreme Court? Why did the case go back to a first instance court?

9)      What was the outcome in the first instance court?  What was the court’s reasoning?  Do you think the judgment is likely to be final?
10)      What do you think would be the fair outcome of the dispute? Why?