The press release from Kalashnikov Concern last week is a heads up to those who intend to use the names and intellectual property of the company around the world that they intend to enforce their ownership. Slowly, they have been building up their intellectual property portfolio. Last year, they applied for 3D trademarks of the AK and AKM family rifles.

In December 2014, it was announced that they were applied for a word trademark for "AK-47" including for goods of 28 class under the International Classification of Goods and Services. According to the TASS news agency, this classification, that was established under the NICE agreement, the goods of 28 class are games and toys, gymnastic and sporting articles not included in other classes and decorations for Christmas trees.

They sued for early termination of the trademark protection that is owned by M.T. Kalashnikov, a business agency established by the designer of the AK-47, Mikhail Kalashnikov, together with his daughter and grandson, with a focus on photography and use the trademark that is made of the AK-47 rifle and the AK-47 name in toys and games. M.T. Kalashnikov appealed to the Russian Supreme Court to challenge the decision of a lower court to reconsider the lawsuit filed by the company after the family won in their favour in 2014.

Last week, they announced that they have successfully registered their trademarks in Russia that cover Kalashnikov, Baikal and Izhmash with plans to enforced their trademarks internationally:

(Moscow, Russia) September 10, 2015 – OJSC Concern Kalashnikov today announced the successful registration of trademarks Калашников/Kalashnikov in the Russian Federation. These trademarks were issued by Rospatent (the Russian Patent Office) in August 2015 and cover the production of firearms and ammunition.

The registration of these trademarks is the first step in a comprehensive, worldwide strategy to consolidate the global intellectual property rights of Concern Kalashnikov.

“The registration of the trademarks Калашников/Kalashnikov in Russia is an historic event for our company and the start of our efforts to consolidate and protect the legendary weapons brand both in Russia and abroad,” said Concern Kalashnikov CEO Alexey Krivoruchko. - We are in the process of formalizing ownership of trademarks across several key product classes throughout the world and will aggressively prosecute those brand pirates who attempt to illegitimately profit our brand.”

Trademarks are an essential indicator of quality and aid the buyer to find the genuine article. The Kalashnikov name is known throughout the world as a symbol of engineering and design excellence. Its development at IZHMASH (now Concern Kalashnikov) is also well known and its intellectual property rights will now be protected.

“Kalashnikov is a renowned global name and this registration is a great first step in the protection of its brand,” said corporate reputation management expert Patrick Jephson. - Like other global brands such as Cartier or Apple, pirates will attempt to illegitimately profit from such an established reputation and in the process damage and dilute the strength of its brand. Concern Kalashnikov can now take firm actions against pirate production and build the long-term value of its brand.”

But it looks like that it will be long process for them to enforce their intellectual property globally, especially in the U.S. With the ongoing sanctions against Russia due to its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, they are unable to prevent a U.S. based company, Kalashnikov USA, from selling Kalashnikov Rifles in the USA. It is impossible for Kalashnikov Concern to register a trademark in the USA as long as the sanctions are in effect. Before the sanctions took effect, they were selling up to 200,000 guns in North America annually.