Since the beginning of the year, the Italian manufacturer of coffee machines and other home appliances Delonghi has filed five lawsuits in Russian arbitration courts against Avito, demanding compensation for infringement of exclusive rights to the brand. About this a report “Vedomosti”.
Three lawsuits were filed in February, and two more at the end of April. In all cases, the Italian company demands compensation ranging from 100 to 160 thousand rubles.
Vedomosti notes that in lawsuits filed in February, the court granted the company’s requests to replace Avito defendants with site users who posted ads that, according to the manufacturer, violated trademark rights. A representative of Avito explained that the lawsuits filed against the service are official procedures and are filed in order to obtain data from a specific seller, and the platform does not have the right to transfer them without a legal request.
Alexey Tiberkov, Deputy Director of Operations at MEF Legal, in a conversation with Vedomosti, noted that one-time sale of used personal equipment and systematic trade in “original new” goods without confirmation of origin are two different legal situations. In his opinion, for regular Avito users who sell used personal equipment, the risks are lower if they use their own photos, honestly indicate the condition of the product and keep evidence of its legal purchase – for example, receipts. According to him, the risks increase if the user sells many similar products, uses other people’s catalog photos, writes “original” without confirmation, offers “exact copies” or “copies”, or actually conducts business through the site and cannot confirm the legal origin of the goods.
After the start of the comprehensive invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, many foreign companies stopped selling their products on the Russian market, and also sold or closed their production facilities in the country.
In May 2024, Kommersant wrote that household appliances (including Italian DeLonghi) produced abroad for the Ukrainian market are being supplied to Russia and sold through retail chains and markets. According to the newspaper’s interlocutors, the equipment is supplied through Türkiye.