Syla Pravdy says Lutsk official is trying to appropriate their name

Viktor Humeniuk, director of the municipal enterprise Lutskvodokanal who has been featured in articles by the Investigative Journalism Center "Syla Pravdy", is trying to register the trademark "Syla Pravdy", the media outlet reports.

According to the journalists, the official filed the application with the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovations in July 2024. Syla Pravdy believes that Viktor Humeniuk intends to appropriate the media outlet's name.

Edit by Syla Pravdy

The team says that they learned about the official’s applying to register the Syla Pravdy trademark by chance and reached out to him to ask why he needed a trademark with that name. They also asked Humeniuk whether this was an attempt to hinder the work of journalists or retaliation for Syla Pravdy's critical reporting.

After a pause, the official replied to all three questions with one phrase: “Thank you”.

The head of Lutskvodokanal, Viktor Humeniuk, has been repeatedly freatured in articles by Syla Pravdy over the past few years. For instance, in 2020, the team reported that Lutskvodokanal pressured customers to verify their water meters through "their" company, which had ties to representatives of the political party “Batkivshchyna” and likely the Lutskvodokanal director himself. In 2023, Syla Pravdy also reported on a company once owned by Viktor Humeniuk's first deputy Svyatoslav Dmytrotsa being contracted by Lutskvodokanal with virtually no competition; on the wealth of the company’s director; on the details and reasons for the bankruptcy of Lutskvodokanal's subsidiary Evoda Trade.

Syla Pravdy says they repeatedly reached out to the official for comments while working on these reports, including official queries.

“That is, Viktor Humeniuk knew about the work of the Invstigative Journalism Center 'Syla Pravdy' and appears to have been aware of what he was doing when he attempted to register a trademark of the same name,” the media outlet writes.

Media law expert at the Institute for Regional Press Development, attorney Oksana Maksymeniuk, believes that Viktor Humeniuk is trying to pressure on the editorial office and journalists.

“A registered trademark allows a person to send those using a similar name a cease-and-desist letter and to demand compensation for material damage. In my opinion, this is a way of putting pressure on the journalists and obstructing their reporting… This will not stop the work of the media outlet per se, but it may create problems in using the name,” the lawyer explained.

In view of this, the lawyer recommends that the media register their names as trademarks from the start.

Syla Pravdy has appealed to the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovations with an objection to the official’s application. In the document, the media outlet argues that the commercial name "Syla Pravdy" has belonged to their office since 2017 and is well-recognized by the public.

The Investigative Journalism Center "Syla Pravdy" has been exposing corruption and abuses of office in Volyn oblast for over seven years, with law enforcement and control bodies having launched multiple investigations based on their reporting.