Eesti Meedia to sue Ekspress Grupp in trademark dispute
AS Eesti Meedia is planning to file a lawsuit against AS Ekspress Grupp to contest the latter's registration in its own name the title of a sports-themed talk show that has been aired on Eesti Meedia's Kuku radio station for more than eight years.
Kuku radio will discontinue airing the talk show "Mehed ei nuta" ("Men Don't Cry") in its present form.
Eesti Meedia CEO Sven Nuutmann said that the decision to take the matter to court was made due to the theft of the trademark by Ekspress Grupp.
"This is a first on our media landscape," he commented. "There has never been a situation like this before and we could not anticipate it." The CEO compared it to a hypothetical situation in which Eesti Ekspress were to start publishing a weekly newspaper supplement called Arter, referring to the name of the existing weekly supplement of Eesti Meedia's flagship daily Postimees.
"Mehed ei nuta" used to be hosted by Jaan Martinson, Tarmo Paju and Peep Pahv, employees of Ekspres Grupp subsidiary Ekspress Meedia. Pahv worked as head of the sports desk at Postimees until January of this year.
"That all hosts of 'Mehed ei nuta' worked at Ekspress Meedia was not an obstacle for us," Nuutmann said in a press release. "What mattered for us was the interest of the audience alone, and it was evident that the show had an audience and a niche of its own. To register the title of a Kuku radio show behind your back is a very unpleasant surprise and something that exceeds ethical limits."
Over the course of eight years, "Mehed ei nuta" aired over 400 times.
Eesti Meedia is the largest media group in the Baltics. News agency BNS belongs to the Eesti Meedia group.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS