Sayenko Kharenko’s intellectual property team has successfully defended the interests of Starlink LLC in a dispute over the early termination of the Ukrainian trademark certificate.
Last fall, the American company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (USA) filed a claim with the Kyiv Commercial Court seeking early termination of certificate No. 135574 for the STARLINK trademark, which has been registered in good faith and actively used in its activities by the Ukrainian company Starlink LLC since 2011. The plaintiff claimed that the said trademark had allegedly not been used by its owner for the last five years.
After hearing the case, the court of first instance found that Starlink LLC had used the trademark during the period mentioned above. Therefore, there were no grounds for termination of the certificate. It was also confirmed by the court that Space Exploration Technologies Corp. had no infringed rights or legitimate interest as a basis for filing this lawsuit.
Disagreeing with the decision of the court of first instance, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. appealed against it.
As in the court of first instance, Sayenko Kharenko’s intellectual property team was actively involved in the legal support of the case. After considering the parties’ arguments, the appellate court dismissed the appeal in full, confirming the groundlessness of the plaintiff’s claims and the legitimacy of its owner’s use of the disputed trademark.
Sayenko Kharenko’s team working on the project included senior associate Volodymyr Hrunskyi, associate Khrystyna Ivanytska and junior associate Igor Korohod. The team was led by partner Yaroslav Ognevyuk.
