Citrus Chain Considers Ban On Use Of Trademark Unjustified And Appealed Against It In Court

The Citrus chain of stores of gadgets, accessories and household appliances, considers the ban on the use of trademark unjustified and appealed against it in court.

The chain has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"On the New Year's Eve, a security claim was filed at the Kyiv Economic Court, in accordance with the fact that the plaintiff demands to prohibit the use of the Citrus trademark ... We consider this claim to be worthless on the following grounds: the company against which this claim was filed is not included in the Citrus group of companies; the Citrus group of companies does not use trademarks that appear in the abovementioned claim; the speed of rendering of the decision makes it possible to think that the judge was misled, since the defendant was not notified of the consideration of the case, was not present at the hearing and was not able to convey its position to the judge; private executors who are so eager to execute the court's decision do not have the authority to do so," the statement says.

According to the statement, Citrus has submitted the necessary procedural documents to appeal this claim, and filed complaints against the illegal actions of the perpetrators to law enforcement agencies, as well as to the Ministry of Justice.

The statement also says that, according to the court's decision, Hennadii Korban is not the owner of 50% of ZT-Invest shares.

As Ukrainian News Agency reports, the co-owner of a chain of stores, former leader of the Ukrainian Association of Patriots (Ukrop) political party, Hennadii Korban, said that the court banned the Citrus chain from using the company's trademark.

In June, Korban filed a lawsuit against his business partner, the co-owner of Citrus, Topal, for violating the tax legislation limit by chain for UAH 1 billion.

In March, Korban announced that he became a co-owner of the Citrus chain, in particular, he announced that he owns 50% of the shares of ZT-Invest LLC, which is one of the legal entities of the Citrus chain.

In July 2020, the co-founder of the Citrus chain Dmytro Zinchenko accused his business partner Hryhorii Topal of an illegal takeover of the company.

Citrus is the first Ukrainian specialized chain of gadgets and accessories stores, which was created in 2000.

Citrus is represented by 51 stores, 3 electronics supermarkets and 10 stores in the islet format.