LINZ, Austria, February 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
On February 5, 2018, in Linz, SPI Group
achieved yet another significant legal victory in its long-running
dispute with Russian state-owned entity Federal Treasury Enterprise
Sojuzplodoimport (FKP or FTE) over the ownership of SPI
Group's Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya trademarks.
The Appellate Court of Linz ruled in favour of SPI Group,
confirming their ownership of both trademarks in Austria.
In its decision, the Austrian Appellate Court held that the
Dutch interim judgments as well as the later Dutch judgments do not
have any binding effect on the Austrian proceedings.
The Austrian Court also:
- rejected the Dutch Courts' approach that an invalidity of the
Russian privatization would not be subject to any limitation
period;
- noted that the approach used by the Dutch Courts' ignores the
fact that the privatization had for many years been considered by
all persons involved, including the Russian State, as legal and had
been implemented and "lived" as such, until the change of political
power in Russia in1999/2000 which
ushered in a change of view; and
- observed that the considerations by the Dutch Courts tune out
any specific discussion on the merits on Russian limitation
law.
In contrast to the Dutch approach, in the Austrian proceedings,
extensive court expert opinions were rendered and concluded that
Russian limitation law applies and precluded FKP's claims.
To date, the Dutch decisions are the notable anomaly in the
global dispute.
This decision once again confirms that the trademarks were
lawfully acquired by SPI.
SPI and its affiliates own the Stolichnaya trademarks in more
than 180 countries.
Further information:
Alison H. Walsh, Stoli Group PR
Director
E-mail: awalsh@stoli.com
Phone: +1-917-301-2962
www.stoli.com