HARBELER

“Smile” ) was registered as a trademark in Russia.

As the Kommersant newspaper informs, Russian mobile advertisement operator Superfon company got the Trademark Certificate of Rospatent on the “smile”  sign.

The president of the Superfon company Oleg Teterin informs, that Superfon will send warning notes to the right breakers for using “smile”  sign. Teterin promised, if there won’t follow any reaction, the company will litigate and demand a compensation. He claimed that legal use of this trademark could be available only after the purchase of the license for a few score of thousand dollars.

According to the experts’ opinion, it won’t concern the individuals; they can use . However, if the registered trademark   will use in respect of services,  for example outdoor advertisement, then according to the Russian legislation, using of the sign could be prohibited and violators of the right could be obliged by juridical means to repair damage and pay the compensation in amount of 5 million rubles (Euro 120 000 approx.).

As of today,  sign is used on the pay cards of Corbina Telecom, and also on the outdoor advertisement of Nestle and McDonald’s.

www.kommersant.ru