Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has helped the Aqua Investments Group and Kavminkurortresursy JSC establish their exclusive geographical indication rights to the Yessentuki N4 and Yessentuki N17 healing diets and mineralized healing water brands.
According to EPAM, the Aqua Investments Group and Kavminkurortresursy – holders of the geographical indication rights -- have generally managed to prevent competitors from launching counterfeit versions of their well-known brands. However, in a recent dispute, the Aqua Investments Group and Kavminkurortresursy faced difficulty in proving the infringement by the Yessentuki-based Universal Mineral Water Bottling Plant Aqua-Vait LLC, which, despite including the geographical indication "Yessentuki" in the product’s title, was including mineral water extracted from other wells, and with a composition different from the original Yessentuki N4 and Yessentuki N17 mineral waters.
According to EPAM, the Aqua Investments Group and Kavminkurortresursy were able eventually to prove that the geographical indication used by Universal Mineral Water Bottling Plant Aqua-Vait infringed on their exclusive rights, and the court ruled that the infringing company’s products should be withdrawn from the market and destroyed at its expense.
The EPAM team was led by Partner Dmitry Dyakin, supported by Counsel Irina Kosovskaya and Junior Associate Stepan Abramov.
