On 2 March 2022, however, the Arbitration Court of the Kirov Region rendered a judgment in a case[1] where the trademark owner of the Peppa Pig Russian trademark № 1212958, Entertainment UK Ltd, had sued a Russian entrepreneur for infringement and the court found that the action by the claimant was an abuse of right, due to the fact that the claimant was domiciled in the UK and since the UK is considered to be an unfriendly state to Russia, this fact was found to be an independent ground for refusing the claim.  

This means that all owners of Russian trademarks who are domiciled in a country that has established sanctions towards Russia as a measure to stop the war in Ukraine have lost the right to protection of their intellectual property.

The Peppa Pig judgment shows us that Russia today, on top of not respecting basic human rights such as the right to life as can be seen every day in Ukraine, does not protect civil rights such as registered trademarks.

[1] ARBITRATION COURT OF THE KIROV REGION – DECISION - Case No. A28-11930/2021