Article 1483. Grounds for Refusing to Grant State Registration to a Trademark

1. No trademark state registration shall be granted designations not having a distinguishing capability or composed only of the elements:
1) that have come into general usage as designations for goods of a certain kind;
2) being generally-accepted symbols and terms;
3) that characterize goods, for instance indicating their kind, quality, quantity, properties, intended purpose, value, and the time, place and method of their manufacture or sale;
4) representing a form of goods that is defined exclusively or mainly by the properties or intended purpose of the goods.
The said elements may be included in a trademark as non-protected elements, unless they dominate therein.
The provisions of the present item are not applicable to designations that have acquired a distinctive capability as the result of the use thereof.

2. In accordance with an international treaty of the Russian Federation no trademark state registration shall be granted to designations composed only of elements being:
1) state coats-of-arms, flags and other state symbols and signs;
2) the abbreviated or full names of international and intergovernmental organizations, their coats-of-arms, flags, other symbols and signs;
3) official control, guarantee or assay hall-marks, seals, decorations and other signs of distinction;
4) designations similar to the extent of confusion to the elements mentioned in Sub items 1-3 of the present item.
Such elements may be included in a trademark as non-protected elements, if the relevant competent body has given its consent thereto.

3. No trademark state registration shall be granted to designations which are or comprise elements:
1) which are false or capable of misleading the consumer concerning goods or the manufacturer of goods;
2) which conflict with the public interest and with humanity and moral principles.

4. No trademark state registration shall be granted to designations identical or similar to the extent of confusion with the official names and images of especially-precious objects of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation or objects of world cultural or natural heritage, and also with images of cultural valuables preserved in collections, collected items and stocks if registration is sought for the names of persons not being owners without the consent of the owners or persons authorized by the owners for these designations being registered as trademarks.

5. In accordance with an international treaty of the Russian Federation, no trademark state registration shall be granted to designations which are or which comprise elements protected in a member state of that international treaty as designations allowing to identify wines or alcoholic beverages as originating from its territory (produced within the borders of a geographical object of that state) and having a special quality, reputation or other characteristics predominantly defined by the origin thereof, if the trademark is intended for designating wines or alcoholic beverages not originating from the territory of the given geographical object.

6. No trademark registration shall be granted to designations identical or similar to the extent of confusion with:
1) other persons' trademarks declared for registration purposes (Article 1492) for uniform goods and having an earlier priority, unless the trademark state registration application is withdrawn or is deemed withdrawn;
2) other persons' trademarks protected in the Russian Federation, including under an international treaty of the Russian Federation for uniform goods and having an earlier priority;
3) other persons' trademarks that have been recognized in the procedure established by the present Code generally-renowned trademarks in the Russian Federation, for uniform goods.
The registration as a trademark for uniform goods of a designation similar to the extent of confusion with any of the trademarks mentioned in the present item is only admissible on the consent of the right holder.

7. No trademark registration shall be granted for any goods to any designations identical or similar to the extent of confusion with the appellation of origin of goods which is protected in accordance with the present Code, except for cases when such designation is included as a non-protected element in a trademark registered for the name of a person having an exclusive right to that name, if the trademark registration takes place in respect of the same goods for the individualization of which the appellation of origin of the goods has been registered.

8. No trademark registration shall be granted for uniform goods to designations identical or similar to the extent of confusion to a company name or a commercial name (specific elements of such names) protected in the Russian Federation or with the name of a breeding achievement registered in the State Register of Protected Breeding Achievements to which rights had emerged as owned by other persons in the Russian Federation prior to the priority date of the trademark being registered.

9. No trademark registration shall be granted to designations identical to:
1) the title/name of a scientific, literary or artistic work, a character or quotation from such work, known in the Russian Federation as of the date of filing of the trademark state registration application (Article 1492) or to an artistic work or a fragment thereof without the consent of the right holder, if rights to the relevant work emerged prior to the priority date of the trademark being registered;
2) the name (Article 19), pseudonym (Item 1 of Article 1265) or a designation derivative from them, a portrait or facsimile of a person known in the Russian Federation as of the date of filing of the application, without the consent of that person or his heir;
3) an industrial design, mark of compliance, domain name in respect of which rights had emerged prior to the priority date of the trademark being registered.

10. Also on the grounds set out in the present article no legal protection is granted to designations deemed trademarks under international treaties of the Russian Federation.