Sorainen has successfully defended the interests of racing organizer NASCAR in disputes involving the registration of the company's trademark in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Successful in all three disputes, NASCAR was able to protect the trademark and to invalidate designations of the international registration of an identical trademark by Amaxa Pharma LTD in the Baltics.
According to Sorainen, "Amaxa Pharma LTD, the proprietor of a trademark identical to our clients’, sought to extend international registration of its NASCAR trademark to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Amaxa intended to use the trademark for marking medical and health goods. NASCAR does not use the NASCAR trademark for medical products and does not have trademark protection for such products. However, Amaxa Pharma LTD can potentially exploit the well-established reputation of the NASCAR trademark and its association with popular racing, misleading consumers as to the origin of the goods by using the trademark for its own products."
In Lithuania, the issue was resolved in court, while in Latvia and Estonia it was resolved by the countries' Industrial Property Boards of Appeal.
In Estonia, Sorainen's team consisted of Senior Associate Olivia Kranich; in Latvia, Partner Andris Taurins; in Lithuania, Counsel Stasys Drazdauskas.
