YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. VimpelCom company (Russia) - the owner of ArmenTel company violates intellectual property rights of Bi Line company (Armenia), Bi Line's chairman Hayk Khanjian and lawyer Hayk Harutyunian stated at the September 22 press conference. In the words of H. Khanjian, the problems of their company, which has operated under the name "Bi Line" since 1996 and has a registered brand of the same name, began in 2006 when VimpleCom, a Russian company operating under the brand "Beeline", purchased ArmenTel, entered Armenian market and started using illegally a brand not registered in the country. He said that the court examination of Bi Line's suit was delayed for a long time and has not been finished until now, whereas VimpleCom's suits were promptly examined and the company was allowed to register its brand. "As a result, being inspired by their impunity and privileged position, VimpleCom and ArmenTel not only started using the brand Beeline but they also illegally called ArmenTel "Beeline", H. Khanjian said. Thus, according to him, the Armenian law on firm names is violated. Besides, it causes confusion among consumers and has a negative impact on activities of Bi Line company. H. Harutyunian announced that Bi Line has filed three applications to the European Court of Human Rights and is determined to struggle for its rights. In his words, the court decision in favor of VimpleCom is based on the motivation that the brands of the two companies do not resemble each other to the point of confusion, but this motivation, as he put it, does not correspond to the reality.

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