Vasil Kisil and Partners Successfully Defended Metinvest Group’s Rights to AZOVSTAL Brand

The Appeals Chamber of the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO) overturned a decision to refuse legal protection and issued a decision approving the registration of the АЗОВСТАЛЬ and AZOVSTAL trademarks.

Previously, the UANIPIO refused registration, arguing that the word AZOVSTAL conflicted with public order because it unlawfully reproduces an object that acquired special symbolic significance for Ukrainians during the war.

Partner Ilarion Tomarov and Senior Associate Marharyta Tolmach, representing Metinvest Holding LLC, proved that the mere symbolic weight of the mark is not a ground for refusal, as it is necessary to establish the unlawful use of the mark. One of the key arguments was a sociological study confirming Metinvest’s historical connection with the brand, which the company has been developing since 2006, as well as the absence of any signs of bad-faith exploitation of the symbol.

This is the first case in which the Appeals Chamber of UANIPIO applied the public-order provision in a similar situation, and it will serve as a model case for the Ukrainian intellectual property market.