Responsibility of the Company for Unfair Competition and Misleading the Public

The Competition Protection Commission has applied a measure of responsibility to the limited liability company "BrandLeader" based on decision No. 149-A dated April 22, 2024, for unfair competition, including manifestations of misleading the public. In this case, the Commission noted that when exercising exclusive rights over a trademark, the entity must act in good faith. Furthermore, contrary conduct directly relates to the institution of abuse of rights, which can manifest itself in several ways, including:

• Exercising exclusive rights over a trademark for the purpose of limiting competition;
• Using a trademark in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of securing and protecting rights;
• Utilizing a trademark that may create a false impression among consumers regarding the quality or other characteristics of the product.

It is noteworthy that the basis for initiating this procedure was the fact that products named "ФЕТАКСА" soft fresh cheese classic, brined, and "ФЕТАКСА" processed cheese, produced by "Hochland" SE in the Russian Federation, were sold in Armenia by the Company using packaging associated with the designation of origin "Feta," while these products were not produced within the geographic area included in the designation of origin and did not meet the requirements.