News

KVN and VTB become trademarks  10.02.2013 20:56

Rospatent recognized  the name of one of the largest Russian bank - VTB and abbreviation KVN as generally known trademarks.

The owners showed various proofs for confirming the popularity of the given brands. “VTB Bank” PLC presented evidence from TNS (international research group) regarding the advertising expenditures in the amount of 996 million rubles, and the “AMiK Creative Television Association” LLC (KVN owner) submitted reference from the “First channel”, disks with records and TNS ratings.

According to the current legislation there is no need to register the recognized well known trademark for all classes of goods and services. It is sufficient to prove the fact that the exploitation of the given trademark by a third party is associated exceptionally with the rightholder and, thus it may infringe upon the rights of the latter.

”Pirate” hosting launched in Russia 10.02.2013 20:55

Activists from Russia's unregistered Pirate Party launched a specialized web hosting service, Piratehost.net featuring pre-moderation of users and the launch of register. New hosting site will block visitors from IP addresses belonging to government agencies and other state bodies.

The provocation behind the project is evident even for an unprofessional eye, since the access to the resource is blocked for civil servants only with regard to their work computers. Moreover, the pirate party offers employees of the state agencies to report on their employers by means of a special link available on the portal, which is received to user’s email. This link could serve to communicate the IP addresses of the given governmental institutions, which will afterwards fill up the register of the blocked addresses.

The pirate hosting allows its users to get a dedicated server or a virtual VPS/VDS server. The service also reportedly includes legal support against copyright claims and if the need arises, protection against DDOS attacks or other hacker activities. The hosting is a paid service with an as-yet-unannounced price structure. All revenues are claimed to be used for Pirate Party fundraising.