Supreme Court Upholds Appeal; Belsat to Be on Trial Again
The deputy chair of the Supreme Court overturned the court’s decision issued five months ago in a suit over trade make “Belsat” between the satellite channel and seller of satellite equipment.
In November 2013 the owner of the company Belast PLUS Andrei Beliakou sued the TV channel in court claiming that television Belsat TV was using its trade mark illegally. Initially, the plaintiff demanded that the channel should stop its broadcasting; then he changed his claim for the channel to only stop using the name Belsat. On January 27 the Judges' Panel of the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the lawsuit, since the plaintiff failed to prove his exclusive rights for the trademark "Belsat" in the territory of Belarus.
According to Andrei Beliakou, his business suffered losses because of its similarity to the TV channel. Belsat TV bears reputation of an oppositional channel and is regularly denied accreditation and “journalists contributing to Belsat” are often prosecuted.
The final accord is to be played on June 24, at 2:30 pm: the Presidium of the Supreme Court will handle the case, and the official representative of the Belsat TV channel Mikhail Yanchuk will have five minutes to convey their standing.