Experts of Capital Legal Services Elena Berger and Vladislav Scherbatykh used intellectual property to protect a tourist symbol of Leningradskaya Region – Losiliy the Moose. Experts of the IP practice use this example to show how creative solutions can be protected from the time they come to light.

First, you need to understand what it is you want to protect. In the case with Losiliy, it was a character, and the items to be protected were his appearance expressed in drawings and the unusual name itself.

How can intellectual property rights be exercised to protect all these elements? There are two main ways to do this – through copyright and through trademarks, each having its benefits, so it is best to use them together. Copyright can protect the Losiliy image, since it is made through a creative process. That is why if someone decides to use the Losiliy image, or, for example, to redraw it and create their own Losiliy “clone” character without obtaining the title holder’s permission, that would be breach of copyright.

The law says that in order for copyright to occur, you don’t need to observe any formalities. As soon as Losiliy’s author finished drawing the character, he immediately gained the copyright to that image. If the author (as in the case with Losiliy) drew the work for hire, it is important to execute the relevant documents confirming that the client owns the rights to the work. These are the types of agreements we drew up with Losiliy’s authors.

It was decided that the next step would be to register Losiliy as a trademark. Why? Because copyright doesn’t always protect the names of characters. If someone started to use Losiliy’s or a similar name, there could be the risk that we wouldn’t be able to protect Losiliy because the court could rule that copyright doesn’t apply to the name. Yet there is a very good chance to register Losiliy’s name as a trademark, and if you do that, no one else will be able to use it or a similar designation (within boundaries set by law).

Prior to carrying out the plan, we needed to check whether someone already registered a similar trademark. The search showed that there were minimal risks – there were only remotely similar trademarks which could hardly be called confusingly similar (something like KVASILIY with an image of a frog). An application was filed, which didn’t raise any questions for the Rospatent experts, and on September 4 of this year, the LOSILIY trademark No.726039 was registered.

Of course, these are not all the protective measures. For example, it is also possible to register the Losiliy image as a trademark – that would make protection even more effective, because it would make proving a violation simpler than with copyright.

When documenting intellectual property rights, each case has its own complications and issues. For example, it may be necessary to “allocate” the rights to an object among several persons. In this case, an agreement can be signed or the object could be drawn up in the name of a legal entity. There could be difficulties with trademarks as well. For example, you sometimes need to come to an agreement with someone who has already registered something similar, and get a consent letter from them for registering your trademark, etc. The decisions in each separate case can be very different.

What benefits does Losiliy get from documenting the IP rights? If someone else uses Losiliy’s name or image without permission, the title holder can ban such use, as well as collect compensation from the violator. For Losiliy’s creators, the most important aspect was the possibility to control the use of the character, so no one could use it for mercenary or indecent purposes. And all our efforts on providing Losiliy protection are paying off. Thanks to our work, we were once already able to quickly stop the unlawful use of the Losiliy designation, which could have caused damage to the character, by explaining to the potential violator the possible consequences of violating the rights, including a lawsuit.

As you see, protecting IP is not always a commercial issue. Often enough, IP can protect the reputation and goodwill of an actual non-profit symbol.