ST. PETERSBURG, 14 Apr. The Primorsky District Court of St. Petersburg has registered a lawsuit filed by the Rostov importer and distributor of alcohol Global Wine Distribution (GWD), which requires the recovery of more than 1 million euros (90 million rubles) and 1.5 million rubles from singer Olga Buzova and her production company » Archer Music Productions» for revoking the Buzwine trademark, the joint press service of the courts of St. Petersburg reports.
«»The plaintiff asks to recover jointly and severally from the defendants on account of the losses incurred 1,150,000 euros at the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the day of execution of the decision, the costs of disposing of products in the amount of 1,558,999.12 rubles. The case materials were transferred to the judge,» the press service of the courts notes. .
It appears from the lawsuit that GWD entered into a license agreement to use the Buzwine trademark.
LLC «Archer Music Productions» undertook to provide advertising support for a fee and conclude an agreement with Olga Buzova on the promotion of alcoholic products, using her name and image in the media.
In April 2020, GWD received a notice from Buzova revoking consent to use the image and name.
“The plaintiff points out that the citizen can withdraw consent at any time, however, the person who had the right to use the image may demand compensation for the losses caused to him by such withdrawal,” adds the press service of the courts.
Also, the plaintiff was forced to dispose of the existing products from Buzwine and suffered losses, the report says.
Earlier, a similar lawsuit was filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court demanding the recovery of 1.15 million rubles from Olga Buzova and her producer. Previously, GWD on its website offered for sale three types of sparkling drinks under the name Buzwine — «Rosé Frizante», «Yellow Frizante» and «Moscato Frizante», on the labels of which Buzova was depicted. A bottle of wine on the importer's website cost 599 rubles, Spain was indicated as the country of production.
GWD filed several lawsuits against Archer after the breakup. In the first of them, filed in February 2020, the distributor demanded that the unilateral termination of the license agreement be declared illegal, and also asked the court to oblige the defendant to enter into an agreement with Buzova, obliging the singer to advertise and promote Buzwine wine. The courts of four instances, including the Supreme Court, dismissed the claim.
GWD has also been reported to have tried in the courts to invalidate Archer's relinquishment of its Buzwine trademark, but also failed.