The structure founded by the former director general of TASS decided to register the Russian-Chinese agency

The application for ICGS classes 35, 38, 41 and 42 (advertising, telecommunications services, event organisation and consultations) was received by Rospatent on September 19, RB.RU learned.

The image of the “trademark” is planned to be protected; the name itself in Russian is recognized as unprotected. There is no information yet in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities about an agency with this name.

Viktor Chukov, director of corporate communications at Mikhailov and Partners, declined to comment on the request.

Mikhailov and Partners already works with Chinese clients and provides services to Russian companies and startups when working in China, according to the Russian PR agency’s website. The company names its partners in China as CIPRA, D&S Media Group, SPRG and in Russia as the “Russian Export Center.”

It is not known who Mikhailov and Partners will partner in the Russian-Chinese Agency.

As Alina Sidorova, a patent attorney at Online Patent, explained to RB.RU, if a company registers a trademark in its name, it becomes the copyright holder, while both the applicant and the copyright holder have the opportunity to transfer the rights to this designation to third parties.

“Thus, Mikhailov and Partners can transfer the rights to another person at the stage of considering the application or, after registering the trademark, conclude an alienation agreement and transfer the rights in this way,” the expert explained.

According to the regulations, Rospatent examines applications within 18 months, but in practice the decision is usually made within 6-8 months, Sidorova added. The deadline may be longer if the application is previously refuted (due to violations that can be eliminated), the patent attorney clarified.

• “Mikhailov and Partners” was established in 1993. Among the founders of the PR company in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities are Sergei Mikhailov (with a 75% stake), his wife Yuliana Slashcheva, as well as Dmitry Borodin, Vitaly Krivenko, Alla Vozdvizhenskaya and Anton Niskin. The founders are currently in hiding.
• In 2023, the agency’s revenue amounted to 934 million rubles, and net profit – 48.6 million rubles.
• In June 2016, the Mikhailov and Partners group of companies consolidated its communications assets under the leadership of the new Novacom holding company, headed by journalist Marianna Maksimovskaya, Vedomosti reported.
• Mikhailov and Partners is actively involved in public procurement. During its activity, the company has signed contracts worth 2.3 billion rubles. The agency received contracts from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Education, the Moscow government and other government agencies.