Weapons maker Kalashnikov is taking the daughter and grandson of Mikhail Kalashnikov to court over the merchandising rights to the name of the AK-47 assault rifle's designer, a court spokesman said Wednesday.
No legal proceedings have taken place since the Kalashnikov corporation filed the suit on June 16, because the state-enterprise has not yet paid its legal fees, the spokesman told legal news service RAPSI.
M.T. Kalashnikov, a small company founded in 1999 by Kalashnikov, his daughter and grandson, registered the intellectual property rights to the Kalashnikov brand name in 2004, according to the state patent office. It renewed the patent in 2012, giving it control of the rights until 2022.
The Kalashnikov image often features on clothing, boardgames and toys.
However, the Kalashnikov corporation, founded in 2013 following a merger between two of Russia's largest weapons producers, believes it should have the rights to the brand name as it is heavily associated with one of their most popular products, the AK-47.
Mikhail Kalashnikov passed away on Dec. 23, 2013, at the age of 94.
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