Metropolitan of Moscow sued Tula company fine for three lines

From the court documents it is known that in August 2025, lawyers of the Moscow metro found that in the online store guntowermodels.com offered for sale a large-scale model of the bus "NefAZ-5299-40-52" in the color "Mosgortrans". On the toy was placed a controversial element, which the subway considered similar to the degree of confusion with the trademark of the subway, it was about three white undulating lines.

The price of the model was 25 thousand rubles. The seller on the website was the Tula company "Profmarket". The pre-trial claim from the copyright holder remained unanswered, after which the metro appealed to the Arbitration Court of the Tula region with a demand to recover from the company 551.4 thousand rubles of compensation (two times the value of the right to use the trademark according to the assessment report), as well as postage and state duty. The third person brought to court MUP of Moscow “Mosgortrans” and Sergey Mikhailovich Ivashko.

The proceedings between the parties lasted almost a year. In June of this year, the Arbitration Court of the Tula region confirmed the fact of violation. At the trial, it was confirmed that the metro trademark is protected, among other things, in relation to toys and models of vehicles (class 28 MKTU). Placing the designation on a toy bus and offering it for sale, the court qualified as use without the consent of the copyright holder.

The court also recognized a high degree of similarity between the controversial designation and the trademark. This is due to a high degree of similarity (close to the identity) of the figurative elements 8 of the compared designations, which are three white undulating lines from semicircles placed on a blue transport (toy). The court found that when the defendant offered the goods for sale, designations similar to the trademark belonging to the plaintiff were used.

At the same time, the amount of compensation was significantly reduced. The judge in his decision referred to the subway license agreement with Simbat LLC from 2020, according to which the annual remuneration for the use of the same sign was 79 thousand rubles. Given that the defendant used only one method of use (offer for sale), the court calculated compensation in the amount of 22.57 thousand rubles. Also with LLC "Profmarket" recovered 1.33 thousand rubles of state duty and 8 rubles of postage in proportion to the satisfied requirements. The rest of the claim was denied. Interesting fact, in September of this year, the State Unitary Enterprise “Moscow Metro” filed a petition for familiarization with the case materials, so perhaps this is not the end of this interesting story.

This is not the first court of the Metropolitan of Moscow with Tula companies. Currently, the Arbitration Court of the Tula region is considering the process of Antis LLC from Bryansk with Venevsky Motor Vehicle Enterprise LLC, Moscow State Unitary Enterprise “Moscow Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Metropolitan named after V.I. Lenin”, Tula Transport Company LLC, the Federal Tax Service for the Tula region, the Department of the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation for the Tula region. We are talking about the abolition of restrictions imposed by the decisions of the bailiff-executor.

From open sources, it is known that Profmarket LLC has existed since 2018, is engaged in the production of games and toys. Revenue for 2025 – 9.2 million rubles. Profit - 249 thousand rubles. The owner is Vyacheslav Petrov.

The Moscow State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the Lenin Metro" (SUE "Moscow Metro") is an organization operating the Moscow high-speed transport system, which includes the Moscow Metro, from 2021 - the Moscow tram and, until June 27, 2025, the monorail, despite the technical disconnect with the metro, and the bus stations of the city of Moscow. He is also a customer of transportation on the Moscow Central Ring, which is operated by Russian Railways. Since 2011, it has been subordinated to the Moscow Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development and the Moscow Construction Department, and is part of the Moscow Transport Complex.

Interesting fact, the State Unitary Enterprise "Moscow Metro" is a loss-making enterprise, the third year included in the rating of Forbes magazine "10 most unprofitable companies in Russia". In 2025, it took fourth place in the rating of “10 most unprofitable companies of Russia – 2025.” with a net loss of 107.7 billion rubles in 2024.