Upheld the family's right to the name "Doctor Liza" in a longstanding dispute
Elizaveta Glinka was a widely recognised physician, public figure, human rights advocate and philanthropist in the Russian Federation, who operated under the pseudonym "Doctor Liza". Her work was repeatedly honoured with state awards and prizes; she was included in the 2014 ranking of "100 Most Influential Women in Russia" and received numerous non-governmental awards and accolades. Films have been made about her, books have been published, and many television programmes have been broadcast on national channels, both before and after her death.
Mrs Glinka tragically perished in the widely reported air disaster over the Black Sea on 25 December 2016. In February 2020, the Elizaveta Glinka Centre was opened in Moscow, housing an exhibition and museum. Monuments in memory of Mrs Glinka are being unveiled across the Russian Federation.
Following the death of Mrs Glinka, her son registered the trademark "DOCTOR LIZA" in his name. This trademark was challenged before the IP regulator Rospatent by the public organisation for which Mrs Glinka had worked during her lifetime. After her death, this organisation added the phrase "Doctor Liza" to its official name and sought to become the sole entity that had the right to use this phrase for charitable activities.
Specialists from Pepeliaev Group successfully defended the right to the trademark for Mrs Glinka's son, both before Rospatent and during the subsequent court challenges to Rospatent's decisions.
Acting on behalf of her son and widower, lawyers from Pepeliaev Group filed a lawsuit demanding that the phrase "Doctor Liza" be removed from the public organisation's name. This action was taken in particular because Mrs Glinka's widower, along with her closest associates, had resigned from the organisation and founded their own charitable foundation named after "Doctor Liza".
However, the court rulings dismissed the claims, as the court deemed such conduct to constitute an abuse of a right.
The public organisation did not stop at the court's dismissal of the relatives' claims and proceeded further: it successfully sought to have the legal protection invalidated for the "Doctor Liza" trademark that had been registered in the name of Mrs Glinka's son. Following this, the public organisation secured registrations in its own name for the trademarks "Доктор Лиза" in Cyrillic script and "Doctor Liza", the English equivalent.
Mrs Glinka's widower also applied to register the designation "Doctor Liza" as a trademark in his own name, but his application was rejected owing to there being similar trademark registrations held by the public organisation.
By a decision of Rospatent, his objections to legal protection being granted to the trademarks registered in the name of the public organisation were also dismissed.
However, credit must be given to the extraordinary resilience demonstrated by Mrs Glinka's family members themselves. They did not give in or lose heart even in the most difficult moments, but continued to fight for the right to the name "Doctor Liza". Mrs Glinka's widower instructed the specialists at Pepeliaev Group to defend the right to his late wife's name to the very end.
Based on an application filed with the Court for Intellectual Property Rights to challenge Rospatent’s decision, the court declared the decision by Rospatent to be unlawful and ordered a review of the ruling that had previously been adopted.
After Rospatent re-examined the case, we succeeded in having the legal protection invalidated that had been granted to the trademarks registered in the name of the public organisation.
Then Pepeliaev Group’s specialists managed to have the "Doctor Liza" trademark registered in the name of Mrs Glinka's widower.
Thus, thanks to the expertly constructed defence strategy devised by the specialists at Pepeliaev Group to protect the interests of Mrs Glinka's family members, the rights to her name were preserved and secured for her family.
Mrs Glinka tragically perished in the widely reported air disaster over the Black Sea on 25 December 2016. In February 2020, the Elizaveta Glinka Centre was opened in Moscow, housing an exhibition and museum. Monuments in memory of Mrs Glinka are being unveiled across the Russian Federation.
Following the death of Mrs Glinka, her son registered the trademark "DOCTOR LIZA" in his name. This trademark was challenged before the IP regulator Rospatent by the public organisation for which Mrs Glinka had worked during her lifetime. After her death, this organisation added the phrase "Doctor Liza" to its official name and sought to become the sole entity that had the right to use this phrase for charitable activities.
Specialists from Pepeliaev Group successfully defended the right to the trademark for Mrs Glinka's son, both before Rospatent and during the subsequent court challenges to Rospatent's decisions.
Acting on behalf of her son and widower, lawyers from Pepeliaev Group filed a lawsuit demanding that the phrase "Doctor Liza" be removed from the public organisation's name. This action was taken in particular because Mrs Glinka's widower, along with her closest associates, had resigned from the organisation and founded their own charitable foundation named after "Doctor Liza".
However, the court rulings dismissed the claims, as the court deemed such conduct to constitute an abuse of a right.
The public organisation did not stop at the court's dismissal of the relatives' claims and proceeded further: it successfully sought to have the legal protection invalidated for the "Doctor Liza" trademark that had been registered in the name of Mrs Glinka's son. Following this, the public organisation secured registrations in its own name for the trademarks "Доктор Лиза" in Cyrillic script and "Doctor Liza", the English equivalent.
Mrs Glinka's widower also applied to register the designation "Doctor Liza" as a trademark in his own name, but his application was rejected owing to there being similar trademark registrations held by the public organisation.
By a decision of Rospatent, his objections to legal protection being granted to the trademarks registered in the name of the public organisation were also dismissed.
However, credit must be given to the extraordinary resilience demonstrated by Mrs Glinka's family members themselves. They did not give in or lose heart even in the most difficult moments, but continued to fight for the right to the name "Doctor Liza". Mrs Glinka's widower instructed the specialists at Pepeliaev Group to defend the right to his late wife's name to the very end.
Based on an application filed with the Court for Intellectual Property Rights to challenge Rospatent’s decision, the court declared the decision by Rospatent to be unlawful and ordered a review of the ruling that had previously been adopted.
After Rospatent re-examined the case, we succeeded in having the legal protection invalidated that had been granted to the trademarks registered in the name of the public organisation.
Then Pepeliaev Group’s specialists managed to have the "Doctor Liza" trademark registered in the name of Mrs Glinka's widower.
Thus, thanks to the expertly constructed defence strategy devised by the specialists at Pepeliaev Group to protect the interests of Mrs Glinka's family members, the rights to her name were preserved and secured for her family.