On December 12, 2024, the Fifth Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Arbitration Court of Primorsky Region, which refused to hold administratively liable an importer of children's construction sets, which included a toy in the form of a «mini-man».
The Court of Appeal emphasized in the judicial act that the customs authority did not provide evidence of confusion (threat of confusion) by the consumer of the designations placed on the imported goods with the trademarks of third parties.
Having reconsidered the case, based on the evidence presented, the Court of Appeal came to the conclusion that there are significant differences between the designations placed on the imported goods and the trademarks of the third parties. These differences help to avoid confusion in the eyes of consumers and, thus, indicate the absence of infringement of trademarks of third parties.
At the same time, the Court of Appeal emphasized that the consumer of children's construction sets realizes that the image of a «mini-man» indicates the structure of the construction set and cannot be considered sufficient to individualize the manufacturer of the goods, as the customs authority claimed.
The client’s interests were represented by the Senior Associate of «A.Zalesov & Partners» Patent & Law Firm Anna Kakurnikova.