Post Staff Writer
 Taisia Povaly is the pop star who calls herself �Taya.� Taya macaroni is a leading pasta brand in Ukraine. The Anti-Monopoly Committee might bar the food-maker from continuing to use the name. (Post Photo by Kyrylo Kislyakov) |
Grocery shoppers in Ukraine are mistakenly associating Ukrainian diva Taisia Povaly with a popular brand of Ukrainian pasta, according to a survey conducted by Ukraine�s Anti-Monopoly Committee. Those findings will play a role in a potentially precedent-setting decision on trademark infringement due early this February, said committee head Oleksy Kostusyev on Jan. 22. |
The committee had been looking into whether Taya brand macaroni, sold in Ukraine by Ukrainian Pasta Ltd., was taking advantage of Povaly�s stage name, which is also Taya.
Povaly first sang her hit song �Prosto Taya� (�I�m Just Taya�) in 1994. Ukrainian Pasta, which has factories in Khmelnytsky and Chernihiv, has been in business in Ukraine for eight years, but did not start selling Taya macaroni until 2001.
The company claims a quarter of the spaghetti and short-cut pasta market in Ukraine.
The committee�s investigation included a �sociological survey� in which random consumers were asked whether they associated Taya macaroni with Taya the songstress. Kostusyev said that the results showed that a �good chunk� of people did, indeed, make that link, although the exact percentage won�t be known until the committee reveals its decision in the coming weeks.
Ihor Likhuta, the pop/folk/opera singer�s producer, said that the macaroni company�s television commercial clearly tried to associate the pasta with his performer.
 (Post photo by Vitaly Pavlenko) |
�Not only is the product called Taya, but at the end of their TV ad � in case there were any lingering doubts � they say �We also sing well,�� Likhuta told Hromadske Radio. �This slogan is clearly a reference to Taisia Povaly.� The Anti-Monopoly Committee has not ruled out barring the pasta company from using the name Taya in the future. |
Oleksandr Verkh, director general of Ukrainian Pasta, said that the macaroni was indeed named after someone, but that that person was not the famous singer. Rather, Verkh said, the pasta factory�s first director, Taisia Bukhtiyarova, is the macaroni�s namesake.
He also acknowledged that his firm had not registered Taya as a trademark in the past.
The Anti-Monopoly Committee has frequently found companies guilty of copyright infringement in the past. In August, it prohibited Odessa-based Garant-2 Ltd. from selling a cola beverage called Peps!. Slavutych brewery, which owned the rights to produce and sell Pepsi-cola products in Ukraine, had filed a complaint with the committee, arguing that the brand was trying to trick consumers into buying their product.
Similar rulings by the committee have protected the trademarks of Smirnoff and Fanta.
Rostyslav Soltys, a trademark specialist at the Kyiv law firm Danylko, Kushnir, Soltys and Yakymyak, said the committee�s decision will depend on whether Taya macaroni benefited from Povaly�s star status and on whether Povaly�s name had sustained any harm as a result.
�The usual approach of the [committee] towards trademark violation and unfair competition cases is based on market segmentation,� Soltys said. �In other words, whether the alleged perpetrator was gaining profits from using somebody else�s name or trademark for the same or similar goods or services. This implies that some actual harm must have been done to the trademark owner�s business if the case is to be successful.�
�The importance of the present case is that it will determine whether using another�s trademark in a totally unrelated market � foodstuffs as opposed to musical recordings � is a serious enough violation to necessitate an appropriate administrative action by the committee,� said Soltys.
That�s where Kostusyev�s sociological survey may play a role early next month.
�The committee studied the psychological influence of the stage name on shoppers,� Kostusyev said. �Our final decision will take into account the psychological impact of the television commercial on shoppers. Without a doubt, this case will be a precedent for future cases on questions of competition and the market.�
Povaly, the self-styled �Golden Voice of Ukraine,� made headlines last month when she insured her voice for Hr 1 million.