Hobbies & Personal information

Has excellent skills in organizing family trips, great in cooking, passionate about travelling. Can get sick without a good book, believes that sounds of nature or symphonic orchestra can heal the soul, agrees that the time spent with family and friends is priceless.

Prior to joining Katzarov SA, I worked in Cyprus at the Intellectual Property department of an international spirits company operating in over 170 markets. 20 years of experience includes dealing with various aspects of IP rights, coordination with law firms worldwide, as well as with authorities such as WIPO and EUIPO for searching, filing and maintaining applications and registrations, reviewing watch notices, preparing oppositions, cancellation actions, analyzing office actions and provisional refusals, obtaining evidence of use, attending to renewals and other trademark maintenance filings, preparing budgets for global actions (worldwide filings, assignments, renewals etc.) and handling other day-to-day prosecution of a large global trademark portfolio.

My special focus was on dealing with complex IP matters in the former USSR-countries on a daily basis, including long-running litigation in multiple jurisdictions, owing to which I have a deep understanding of local legal and business practices and know the main IP actors in the region.

Having worked in a highly regulated industry, my practice further extends to close cooperation with commercial and marketing colleagues with regard to IP rights clearance of marketing and advertising materials, website contents as well as their compliance with local regulations. Also, in my work, I always keep an eye towards the clients’ business interests having worked during 20 years on the client’s side.

At Katzarov SA, I joined the team which handles all spheres of IP support in the countries of Eastern Europe, Eurasian and Balkan region.

Education
Moscow State Pedagogical University | Moscow

Languages

English, Russian

Primary Expertise

Conducting and preparing availability searches; Analysis of claimed lists of goods/services; Protecting and filing trademarks; Registration proceedings, including arguments and responses to official notifications or other actions; Preparation/revision of arguments for oppositions and/or observations and supportive documents; Trademark portfolio management; Recordals of changes (ownership, name, legal form, address, representatives etc.).

Secondary Expertise
Trademark enforcement (cease and desist letters, cancellation actions, invalidity and nullity actions, investigations); Negociation and preparation of letters of consent etc.; Trademark portfolio reviews and audits.