The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a trademark dispute over Stolichnaya vodka. The lower court’s decision remains, which held that a Russian state-owned company lacked standing to challenge use of the mark in the U.S.
As reported by Law 360, Federal Treasury Enterprise Sojuzplodoimport (“FTE”), “a government company that under Russian law has some authority over the vodka’s trademark, first sued Spirits International BV, Allied Domecq International Holdings BV and William Grant & Sons Inc. in 2004, arguing that the companies, which began using the Stolichnaya trademark after the collapse of the Soviet Union, did not have rights to the mark because its privatization had not been legal under Russian law.”
U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels found FTE did not meet the criteria under U.S. law to serve as the “assign” or “legal representative” of Russian Federation, the “Stolichnaya” mark’s real owner.