Baikal Aqua Sues Over Legend of Baikal Trademark

The Irkutsk-based company LLC «PK Baikal Aqua», part of En+ Group, has filed another lawsuit in the intellectual property court demanding the annulment of Rospatent«s decision to register the Legend of Baikal trademark by a competing company. Information about the case is reflected in the file of the Intellectual Property Court.

PK «Baikal Aqua», registered in Port Baikal, is engaged in the production of drinking water Legend of Baikal, for which it received a patent in 2008. The founder of «PK Baikal Aqua» is the management company «Baikal», registered in Moscow. The firm is headed by Vitaly Vinokurov, who is also the general director of the eponymous trading company. According to the service «Kontur.Fokus», for 2024, PK «Baikal Aqua» received revenue of 989.4 million rubles (approximately $11.0 million at current rates), and net profit — 77.6 million rubles (approximately $860,000 at current rates). Data for 2025 is not yet reflected.

PK «Baikal Aqua» is challenging in court Rospatent«s refusal to satisfy an objection against granting legal protection to the Legend of Baikal trademark by the company »Baikal«, which has been registered in the village of Listvyanka, Irkutsk District, since 1992.

The main type of activity of this firm is law. The company«s revenue last year was 10 million rubles (approximately $111,000 at current rates), and net profit — 871 thousand rubles (approximately $9,700 at current rates). The firm is managed by Vladislav Zakharyan, not connected with other legal entities, and the founder is Kristina Saenko, who owns three other companies — one in Irkutsk and two in Moscow. Two of them are engaged in intellectual property rental, one — in real estate management.

The company is the rights holder of several trademarks, including those used for the production of alcoholic products. The Irkutsk LLC «Baikalskaya» Saenko owns trademarks for beer and alcoholic beverages: «Zvenyashchiye Kedry» (Ringing Cedars), Nerka Vodka, «Belaya Liniya» (White Line), «Zolotoy Kedr» (Golden Cedar). Also, the company «Baikal» has filed applications with Rospatent for the registration of more than 10 additional trademarks.

According to PK «Baikal Aqua», one of the competing company«s trademarks has significant similarity with the current name of PK »Baikal Aqua«, which directly affects brand integrity and could lead to losses, as well as limit the registration of a trademark for its own alcoholic products, reports Kommersant.

In 2021, PK «Baikal Aqua» applied to Rospatent for the registration of the Legend of Baikal trademark for alcohol, but was refused. As arguments, the agency cited similarity to the point of confusion with trademarks that belong to LLC «Baikal» (trademarks for beer and alcohol: Baikal Ultimate Deep, Baikal Deep, Baikal Deep Ice, Baikal Deep Ness, etc.). As noted then by Rospatent, the registration of Legend of Baikal alcohol for another company could create the impression among consumers that they are made by the same producer.

After that — already in 2024 — the agency approved the application of «Baikal» for the registration of the designation Legend of Baikal for alcoholic beverages.

PK «Baikal Aqua» attempted in court to challenge the agency«s refusal to register the trademark and simultaneously register the right to its ownership. According to the producer, the refusal limits it in expanding the product line united by a single designation. However, the court denied the application.

The chances of PK «Baikal Aqua» in the new lawsuit appear low, lawyers believe.

«Rospatent and the court have previously consistently indicated that their rights to the brand are limited to the non-alcoholic beverages class and do not automatically extend to alcohol. However, the very filing of the lawsuit is a strategically justified move. The company probably aims not so much at immediate registration of the trademark as at creating negotiation leverage,» Kommersant quotes Yulia Kombarova, founder and lawyer of the company «Legal Bureau No. 1».

In her opinion, a lengthy and costly court dispute could push the trademark owner — LLC «Baikal» — to discuss a deal or licensing agreement.

«Moreover, »Baikal Aqua« demonstrates to the market a readiness to aggressively protect the brand, which works for the long-term preservation of its value and complicates life for competitors,» the lawyer believes.

To recognize the actions of LLC «Baikal» in registering the trademark as unfair competition or abuse of rights, the plaintiff will need to prove that at the time of the application, LLC «Baikal» consumers already had a stable associative connection between the designation Legend of Baikal and the products of PK «Baikal Aqua» specifically in the alcohol segment, says Vladimir Khantimirov, managing partner of the law firm «Asterisk».

«However, given that LLC »Baikal« has owned a series of similar trademarks for alcoholic products for a long time, the court is highly likely to regard their actions as the realization of a lawful interest in protecting and developing their own brand,» the expert notes.

According to Irina Babintseva, patent attorney for trademarks at the company «Intellite», for success in the dispute, LLC «PK Baikal Aqua» would have had to convincingly prove that for a significant portion of consumers, the designation Legend of Baikal was unambiguously associated specifically with it.

«Given that the chamber for patent disputes has already found no grounds to satisfy the objection on the key argument for the applicant (fame), the probability that the intellectual property court will radically change this assessment appears low,» says Irina Babintseva.

The first hearing in the case is scheduled for February 16.