In March 23, 2017, Kalashnikov Concern filed a lawsuit against Cybergun in the Arbitration Court of the Udmurt Republic in Russia, demanding that the French airsoft company recognize its rights to the labels "Калашников" and "Kalashnikov" as part of trademarks and brand names and right to use the name of M. T. Kalashnikov in economic activity as well as declare that Cybergun’s use of the Kalashnikov trademarks is illegal.

According to RAPSI, the Russian Legal Information Agency, last March 5, 2018, the court decides to not continue with the lawsuit though it did not state the reason for the ruling. What we understand is that both companies intend to settle the dispute under mutually acceptable terms in April 2017. Kalashnikov Concern and Cybergun requested for more time to thresh out the details of the settlement, and it seems that they have finally come out with such that the Arbitration agrees with and ruled that lawsuit will not proceed.

As to what the settlement is, there was no official news announcement from both companies. Will Cybergun continue to have exclusive license to use the name “Kalashnikov” in its airsoft products and merchandise, or will Kalashnikov Concern also reserves the right to license the name and weapon images to other companies around the world. Airsoft companies that may want to get a license from Kalashnikov Concern can inquire from the company if they will allow for this.

Kalashnikov Concern has been working hard to protect its intellectual property, given that it is looking for more revenue areas as a business entity. Last year, the company and the Federation of the Military-Tactical Games (FMTG or ФВТИ in Russian), upon the initiative of the latter, have mutually agreed upon conditions in resolving disputes in the use of trademarks.

The agreement also with the local airsoft and leisure shooting community is a fixed lump sum payment for royalties and will depend upon the turnover of a particular company. Royalty fee will be 20,000 Russian Rubles or around US$350 based on the exchange rate as of this writing. Many are happy with this settlement, in our discussions with the Russians during the IWA Outdoor Classics 2018n in Germany.

Photo Source: Kalashnikov Concern