The American company SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) sued the Ukrainian company Starlink LLC and Ukrpatent. The trial of the case began on 24 October. SpaceX wants to prematurely terminate the Starlink trademark. dev.ua writes this, referring to the decision of the Kyiv State Court on October 24 to initiate a trial in the case.

what is known

It turned out that the Ukrainian brand of the same name Starlink has existed for a very long time. The application for registration was filed by the Ukrainian LLC “Starlink” in March 2010, according to the data of the trademark registration. And the registration of the mark took place in February 2011.

We will remind you that the subsidiary of the American Starlink appeared in Ukraine in April 2022. Its name is “Starlink Ukraine” LLC. Also, after the start of the war, Starlink began providing satellite Internet services in Ukraine.

Serhii Dulytskyi is the founder of Starlink LLC. We contacted him. Serhiy said that Mask’s lawyers made a statement about him about a year ago, even before the war started. They demanded that the brand be given to American Starlink. Reason: “Starlink is a worldwide known brand. So give it.”

What brands does SpaceX have in Ukraine?

It is known that SpaceX in Ukraine has applied for the registration of the SpaceX Starlink brand in 2020. It got its rights in August of this year.

Also this year, SpaceX applied for the registration of another trademark in Ukraine – SpaceX by Starlink.

what’s next

Serhii Dulitsky said his company has been providing IT services under the StarLink brand for a very long time – more than 14 years. The company Starlink LLC itself was registered in 2009, according to the registry.

Starlink is SpaceX’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet service. Starlink was first announced in 2015 and started to serve customers in 2020. Serhii Dulytskyi says he doesn’t want to give his name to an American company that way. “It’s not our fault we chose such a name. By the way, long before Starlink appeared,” he emphasizes.

The founder of the Ukrainian company admits that he can enter into negotiations with SpaceX, but on the condition that the latter compensate his company for losses associated with the abandonment of the brand. You know that customers know their business by that name, the post office has been working on this field for many years, etc. According to Serhii, the first meeting on the case will be held on December 8th.