FAS: TRADEMARK REGISTRATION ALLOWS BUSINESSES TO PROTECT ITS INTERESTS MORE EFFECTIVELY

It is especially relevant for companies that are stable in the market and do not want to lose consumers due to unlawful actions of competitors

The discussion of topical issues of advertising control and unfair competition together with representatives of the business community took place within the framework of the forum "Modern trends in the development of the advertising market".

Deputy Head of FAS Russia Karina Taukenova said that every year FAS Russia considers about 16 thousand applications on violation of advertising legislation and about 3 thousand applications on unfair competition. Violations in these areas most often affect consumers, as well as representatives of small businesses. The Deputy Head of the Authority noted that the authority continues to work on updating advertising legislation with the participation of business and market experts in order to preserve the honest and fair behavior of entrepreneurs.

Tatyana Nikitina, Head of the Department for Control over Advertising and Unfair Competition of FAS Russia, told about the most massive violations in the advertising market. Thus, the largest number of violations in 2022 was revealed in the field of advertising via telecommunication networks (SMS mailings, spam calls) - 31.8%, as well as in the field of financial services - 17.8%. In total, over the past year, the Authority initiated 4016 antimonopoly cases on grounds of violation of advertising legislation and unfair competition and imposed 1,831 fines totaling 133,427,000 rubles.

Anastasia Zalevskaya, Head of the Division for Antimonopoly Control in Advertising and Mass Media of the Department for Control over Advertising and Unfair Competition, told about the current forms of protection against unfair competition. One of such mechanisms is trademark registration. We are talking about situations when, due to a recognizable trademark, individual entrepreneurs are trying to build their business by "parasitizing" on the already well-known symbol.

It is worth noting that the law does not oblige to register designations as trademarks. And if an entrepreneur, for certain reasons, did not do this, he does not lose the opportunity to receive protection from the abuse of competitors. However, the registration of a trademark provides an opportunity to more effectively protect their interests. This can be implemented in the form of a ban on other persons to sell goods under such a designation.