VKontakte Ltd, the owner of Russia’s leading social network Vkontakte.ru (VK.com), is seeking government registration of the VK.COM trademark in Russia far beyond the Internet business.
The company’s application for the specific look and font of its brand name was formally accepted and granted priority status on July 26, 2013.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported earlier this month that VKontakte was requesting trademark protection for up to 19 categories of goods and services associated with the name. RIA Novosti cited a source with knowledge of the matter in the St. Petersburg office of Rospatent, Russia’s intellectual property service.
Some of these goods are related to its core business. These include Internet access services, computer system analysis, and computer interfaces or domain name registration services. Others cover a range of consumer goods, such as condoms, perfumes, jewelry, office supplies, wallets, suitcases, bandanas, and some other leather products and garments.
Another set of categories includes consumer services, such as ticket and hotel booking or health center reservations.
The jury is still out on whether or not VKontakte will actually be selling VK.COM branded condoms or booking hotels, but according to VKontakt’s e spokesman Georgy Lobushkin the overall goal is to prevent the unauthorized use of the popular social network’s name by third parties for commercial purposes.
Vkontakte was renamed VK.com in early 2012 in a bid to make the brand easier to type on a mobile device, more difficult to misspell, and easier for international users.
