Establish the registrant’s conduct
We reviewed the Kazakh company’s portfolio and identified a pattern of registering foreign brands for later licensing or resale.
Case study · Kazakhstan · Trademarks
Removing a bad-faith trademark registration in Kazakhstan.
We removed an unused registration that blocked our client’s trademark filing and product deliveries, clearing its route back into the Kazakhstan market.
ClientFood manufacturer (Russia)
MatterNon-use challenge to a blocking mark
JurisdictionKazakhstan
Final resultRegistration cancelled
The obstacle
A local registration became a barrier to the entire market.
The client planned to enter Kazakhstan and filed its trademark there. A local company had registered the same mark several years earlier and offered a licence on commercially unacceptable terms.
After negotiations ended, the local company attempted to block supplies of the client’s products. The dispute therefore threatened both the trademark filing and continued access to Kazakhstan retail chains.
The objective was not simply to remove a registration. It was to reopen the client’s commercial route into Kazakhstan.
Our strategy
Build standing. Prove non-use.
We combined portfolio analysis, a new filing, local market evidence and a non-use claim into one coordinated route.
Create a clear filing interest
Before litigation, we filed a new application for the identical trademark and documented the client’s direct interest in removing the blocking right.
Prove non-use in the local market
Working with Kazakh counsel, we assembled marketing research and responses from food regulatory authorities showing that the disputed mark had not been used.
Carry the strategy through court
We coordinated the non-use proceedings with local counsel and obtained cancellation of the disputed registration in full.
Result
The blocker was removed. Deliveries resumed.
Cancellation cleared the client’s own filing and allowed its products to return to Kazakhstan retail chains without the adverse licence demanded by the registrant.
Blocking mark cancelledThe disputed registration was removed in full.
Market route reopenedThe client could resume product deliveries to Kazakhstan.
Own filing clearedThe obstacle to the client’s new trademark application was eliminated.
Key point
A trademark dispute is ultimately a market-access problem.
What made the route work.
The filing, evidence and court claim were sequenced around the client’s commercial objective: restoring deliveries while securing its own brand position.
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This case study describes a completed matter and is provided for general information. Results depend on the facts, evidence and procedural history of each case.