Trademark prosecution service
Practical support for foreign trademark attorneys and brand owners responding to Russian provisional refusals against international trademark registrations. We help foreign counsel understand the refusal, choose the right strategy and file a Russian response before the Madrid deadline.
Deadline
From the notification of provisional refusal; treated as non-extendable.
Forum
Russian examination applies to Madrid designations of Russia.
Representation
Foreign holders generally need a Russian trademark attorney.
Appeal
A missed appeal term may be restorable within the following six months.
An international registration designating Russia is examined under Russian trademark law. The same refusal grounds apply to Madrid designations as to national Russian applications.
Representative
Foreign legal entities and individuals permanently residing outside Russia generally act before Rospatent through a Russian trademark attorney registered with Rospatent, unless an applicable international treaty provides otherwise.
Response deadline
For Madrid refusals, the response period is six months from the date of the notification of provisional refusal. This term is treated as non-extendable.
Final decision
Rospatent issues a final decision in any event. The decision may confirm the provisional refusal, withdraw it entirely or withdraw it in part for selected goods or services. In practice, it is normally issued within two months after the six-month response period expires or after the applicant files a response earlier.
Appeal
A final decision refusing protection in Russia under an international treaty may be challenged before Rospatent through the Chamber for Patent Disputes within four months from the date the decision is sent. If this term is missed, it may be restored upon request within the following six months, provided the applicant states the reasons for missing it.
The first review is deadline-driven: a Russian provisional refusal is workable only if the legal route, evidence and filing formalities are aligned early.
Identify the exact grounds, cited rights, affected goods/services and the Item X notification date.
Verify each cited Russian trademark, Madrid designation, GI, company name or other right in the official records.
Use arguments, limitation of goods/services, evidence, consent letters, recordal of owner data or challenges against cited marks.
Submit the response through a Russian trademark attorney before the six-month Madrid refusal deadline.
If Rospatent maintains the refusal, decide quickly whether to appeal to the Chamber for Patent Disputes.
The right answer depends on the cited ground. A simple argument may be enough in some cases; in others, recordals, evidence or negotiations are needed before the response is filed.
The summary below is designed as a practical map for foreign trademark attorneys. Each item links to the relevant Russian legal provision.
Problems in the mark itself, the wording of the goods or the public-law restrictions that apply in Russia.
The sign does not individualize the goods or services. Examples include very simple shapes, ordinary letters or letter combinations without distinctive graphic treatment.
The wording is used as a generic name of the goods or services, such as a product category rather than a badge of commercial origin.
The mark consists only of generally accepted symbols or terms, for example standard arrows, currency signs, chemical symbols or other routine signs.
The sign describes the kind, quality, quantity, properties, purpose, value, place, time or method of production or sale of the goods or services.
A three-dimensional sign may be refused where the shape is determined exclusively or mainly by the nature, properties or purpose of the goods.
State symbols, flags, official signs, names or emblems of international organizations and confusingly similar elements generally need proper authorization.
The sign may be refused if it can mislead consumers about the goods, their producer or place of manufacture. In practice this often overlaps with geography, ingredients and specification wording.
Terms such as organic, biodynamic, biological, ecological, eco, bio or green may trigger questions about certification and whether the wording is descriptive or misleading for the listed goods.
Civil Code Article 1483(1)(3), 1483(3)(1); Federal Law No. 280-FZ Articles 5 and 7
Rospatent may object to offensive, immoral, religiously sensitive or otherwise impermissible content, including prohibited wording or symbols.
Official names or images of especially valuable Russian cultural heritage, world heritage objects or cultural values may require owner or authorized-party consent.
A sign identifying wines or spirits as originating from a protected geographical area may be refused for wines or spirits not originating from that area.
If the list contains repeated, unclear or technically defective terms, Rospatent may request correction of obvious or technical errors in the application materials.
Relative grounds based on earlier trademarks, geographical indications, company names and other IP rights protected in Russia.
The most common ground: the IR is identical or confusingly similar to an earlier Russian trademark, Madrid designation, pending application or well-known mark for similar goods or services.
Rospatent may cite the holder's own earlier mark if the recorded owner data do not match, for example because the older Russian record still shows a former address.
Where the same holder already has an identical Russian right for the same goods or services, Rospatent may object because a duplicate exclusive right is not normally granted.
Signs reproducing, imitating or incorporating a protected geographical indication or appellation of origin may be refused, especially for identical or similar goods.
A conflict may arise with an earlier protected company name, commercial designation or plant variety denomination where the relevant rights arose earlier in Russia.
A sign identical or confusingly similar to a known copyrighted work, title, character, quotation, artwork or fragment may require the right holder's consent.
Names, pseudonyms, portraits, facsimiles or derived designations of persons known in Russia generally require consent from the person or heir.
Rospatent may cite an earlier industrial design, certification mark or confusingly similar subject matter where the earlier right has priority.
Even a non-dominant element can create an objection if it incorporates protected means of individualization or other protected objects listed in Article 1483(9).
Send us the WIPO notification and the Rospatent refusal. We will check the deadline, identify the grounds, assess available options and provide a filing plan.
Key statutory and official materials used for this service page.
Current as of 9 July 2026. This page is general information for foreign counsel and brand owners; it is not a legal opinion on a particular refusal.