Joint trademark ownership during bankruptcy proceedings against legal entity
The collision of the exclusive right to brand identity and the institution of bankruptcy is an urgent issue in the theory and practice of jurisprudence. This article reviews joint trademark ownership when conducting bankruptcy proceedings against legal entity, i.e. the right holder of the mentioned brand identity. The peculiarities of the trademark legal protection during the bankruptcy proceedings are studied. The paper reveals the factors which have an impact on the restrictions on exclusive rights to the brand identity protected in Russia that are imposed by the abovementioned procedure. The study proves that joint trademark ownership during the bankruptcy procedure against one of the right holders may impede proceedings, complicate the process under review, reduce the bankruptcy estate and defeat the purpose of the insolvency proceedings. It seems reasonable to supplement Russian laws and regulations with a provision on resolving disputes caused by restrictions on exclusive rights to the joint trademark ownership.