On Tuesday, 8 April, the winners of the Latvian Intellectual Property Awards – “Trademark of the Year 2024” in the categories “Trademark of the Year for Latvia” and “Trademark of the Year for the European Union”, and the “Visionary” – were announced at a celebratory ceremony, which was one of the events marking the 105th anniversary of the Patent Office of the Republic of Latvia (LPO).
The winners of the “Trademark of the Year” were determined among 32 trademarks that had been previously selected, on a quarterly basis, by an LPO’s expert commission from all trademarks registered by Latvian applicants throughout 2024. At the beginning of this year, the trademarks were further evaluated by a jury, which comprised representatives of the LPO, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Latvian Designers’ Society, the Art Academy of Latvia, and “Silvanols” LLC.
In the first two weeks of March, the LPO, in cooperation with the Latvian Public Media Portal LSM.lv, organized a public vote to determine the winner of the Public Sympathy Award.
In the category “Trademark of the Year for Latvia”, the Award was presented to the basketball club “Rīgas Zeļļi”, which registered their figurative trademark in 2024, while in the category “Trademark of the Year for the European Union”, the Award was given to the trademark of the music group “Sudden Lights”. The results of the public vote revealed that the most popular trademark was that of the coffee brand “Tiny Giant”.
LPO Director Agris Batalauskis noted: “This year’s awarding ceremony is very special. The LPO not only completely revised the evaluation procedure for the “Trademark of the Year” but also started a new tradition: two Awards – “Trademark of the Year” and “Visionary” – were combined under the name of the Latvian Intellectual Property Awards. What makes it even more important is that the Awards will be presented on the 105th anniversary of the LPO. Therefore, there is an immense satisfaction not only with the jury’s careful work, but also with the trademark owners’ creativity and willingness to protect their intellectual property.”
The figurative trademark of the basketball club “Rīgas Zeļļi” was qualified for the second evaluation stage in the 2nd quarter. Although the club was founded only in 2023, it attracted significant attention from the sports community already in its first season. “Rīgas Zeļļi” stood out both with their high-level performance on the court and with their active promotion of basketball, playing home games in various Latvian cities. The club’s identity was developed boldly and even provocatively. In its debut season, the team won silver medals in the Latvian Basketball League, reached the Latvian Cup final and entered the playoffs of the Latvian ˗ Estonian League. The contribution of the team’s management to the creation of the club’s image is of no less significance.
“Since the very first day of the club, we have seen much attention from the public, and therefore we have to protect our club’s trademark to be its only users. Sports is a show business, and it is crucial to protect the trademark in this business. Large sports organizations all over the world take this process very seriously, and we also wanted to be responsible and to protect our rights. As our popularity grew, we realized that some others might want to sell souvenirs with our trademark. Now, they are not officially allowed to do this,” emphasizes the Club President Edgars Buļs.
The word trademark of the music group “Sudden Lights” was qualified for the second evaluation stage in the 4th quarter. The limited liability company “Sudden Lights” was founded in 2019, and it is a legal entity of the Latvian music group “Sudden Lights”, which is engaged in organizing the group’s concerts, music publishing, and other music services. The music group was formed in 2012, and its composition hasn’t changed ever since comprising soloist Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, guitarist Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, bass guitarist Kārlis Vārtiņš, and drummer Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis.
“Our group met at a music school, and our concerts were held there. Before one of the concerts, we needed a name to put on a poster. We were browsing dictionaries and books, and at some point, we came across the word “lights”, which seemed like a very appropriate one for what we wanted to say with our music,” the musicians reveal the origin of the group’s name, emphasizing that registering it as a trademark not only protects it from being used by someone else, but also makes the group stronger. The group explains: “In our creative industry, it is important to have a feeling of being insured. Having our own trademark is like a guarantee of safety.”
The winner of the Public Sympathy Award – the figurative trademark of the coffee roastery “Tiny Giant” – was qualified for the second evaluation stage in the third quarter. The company was founded in early 2024, while the idea of a “specialty” coffee came to the brand owners even earlier. The team worked on the brand design for more than half a year, until the image of an amusing man with big eyes was finally created.
“We were inspired by the profession of barista, or Italian coffee master. We wanted to show how prestigious this profession is, adding a bit of humour at the same time, since the coffee industry itself is a very serious business. This is the power of coffee and caffeine that our tiny man’s wide-open eyes illustrate,” Edgars Dzirkalis, the co-owner of the company, explains the comic touch.
The coffee packaging design is developed in such a way that the product is exportable, attracts attention and at the same time is sustainable, taking into account the current trends of the European Union in this field. Therefore, the packaging is made of biologically recyclable material that decomposes itself over time. Our customers can also receive coffee in special reusable buckets. Currently, we offer six different types of coffee to please different tastes.
This year, the individual jury members decided to award their Sympathy Awards to two more trademarks. “Silvanols” LLC presented its Sympathy Award to the figurative trademark fiteg2 of “APF Holdings” JSC, which represents innovative dietary supplements and functional food products. The winner of the Sympathy Award of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was the figurative trademark "we skate waves" of “RB PROJEKTS” LLC, which is a brand of innovative skateboard ramps.
The “Trademark of the Year” is organized in two stages. First, once a quarter, experienced LPO experts select four trademarks in the nomination “Trademark of the Year for Latvia” and four trademarks – in the nomination “Trademark of the Year for the European Union”. At the second evaluation stage, the selected trademarks are further evaluated by a jury comprising LPO’s and invited experts. The winners in both nominations of the “Trademark of the Year” are determined among 16 trademarks registered at the LPO and 16 trademarks registered with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
The award was founded in 2013 to honour Latvian entrepreneurs that make use of the benefits of industrial property protection for increasing the long-term competitiveness and productivity of their companies, and to promote the development of Latvian businesses.