Sometimes even the most seemingly successful marketing move can result not in increased profits, but in litigation and loss of money. The other day we talked about how the mobile operator MTS was sued for violating the exclusive right to use the word “hype” for commercial purposes. It sounds quite absurd, but these are the realities of modern legislation; if a trademark is registered, then no company can use it without the appropriate permission. MTS inadvertently called one of its most popular tariff plans the word “Hype” and is now reaping the consequences. Today it became known exactly what fate awaits the “Hype” tariff.
At one time, Mobile TeleSystems invested a lot of money in promoting the Hype tariff plan. It was advertised by popular actors and video bloggers, which could not but cost the company a pretty penny. According to unverified data, MTS spent several hundred million rubles on Hype advertising. And initially the investment paid off, because, in addition to enticing advertising, Hype also offered good service conditions. It is not surprising that the number of subscribers who have subscribed to this tariff began to approach the 3 million mark.
However, profitable investments ceased to seem so profitable when the management of MTS faced a lawsuit from News Media JSC, which did not waste time and managed to register the word “hype” as trademark. And the exclusive rights to “Hype” will belong to “News Media” for the next 10 years - until 2028. The violation of rights is obvious here, so not a single lawyer, even the most qualified one, would help MTS get away with it.”
The mobile operator was obliged to abandon any mention of the word “Hype” both in the name of the tariff and services, and in advertising videos. And MTS management chose the least painless and obvious path - they decided not to abandon the tariff plan completely, but simply rename it. And the corresponding notification is already posted on the official website of the mobile operator. From tomorrow tariff plan“Hyip” will change its name to the short and laconic “X”, which stands for tariff “X”.
Those subscribers who are using the “Hype” tariff plan right now should not worry. All conditions, including payment, available Internet traffic and other parameters will remain at the same level. Well, the MTS company will also face a serious fine, the amount of which will be determined in court.
Closing and renaming
From September 4, 2018 mobile operator MTS will close Smart tariffs for connection, rename them and send them to the archive. Tariff tariffs will also be closed in Moscow and the region. Smart plan Mini, which was only available in the capital region and was available for connections. In the rest of Russia it has long been closed. Smart Mini will be called " Smart Mini 032018", and Smart - " Smart 032017».
Image for the Smart tariff on the official MTS website
Names may vary in other regions. For example, in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, from September 4, Smart will be called “Smart 012018”, and in the Kemerovo region - “Smart 112017”
Smart Mini is unlikely to be updated; most likely, it has been closed forever. With regular Smart, there are options: the tariff will be updated or closed. At the moment, with the presence of “Smart Unlimited” and “Tariff”, the relevance of the regular Smart tariff is in question. True, in some regions MTS recently significantly increased the volume of the package mobile internet, but apparently that didn’t help either.
Daily payment – robbery of the inattentive
In addition, from September 4, 2018, subscribers of the renamed tariffs Daily payment will be available. In some regions, dates may differ, for example, in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region - from September 12. In other regions, for example, in the Kemerovo region, daily payment will not be introduced at all.
Brief description of the Smart tariff on the official MTS website
Typically, MTS introduces daily payment at archival tariffs, from which you can get a little money. Its essence is as follows - if at the time of the new subscription period (the day on which your subscription fee should be charged) there are not enough funds on your balance to charge the subscription fee in full, then a daily payment is included. “Smart mini 032018” – 17.5 rubles/day(Moscow and region), “Smart 032017” – 22 rubles/day(Moscow and region)
Of course, all this will backfire on the subscriber. Let's look at an example.
- Smart (Moscow and region) – 500 rubles per month
- “Smart 032017” (Moscow and region) – 22 rubles/day
If you do not have 500 rubles on your balance during the next subscription fee debit, your number will not be blocked, and a subscription fee of 22 rubles per day will be debited from your balance daily. This is approximately 660 rubles per month or 132% of the base cost. Do you need it? Hardly.
To return to monthly subscription fee, You need to top up your balance to an amount equal to your standard monthly subscription fee. Those. in the case of our example, replenish the balance up to 500 rubles.
You can get acquainted with this news for your region on the official MTS website.
Video version of the publication
On July 25, 2018, MTS will rename the tariff “Hype” and all options with the word“Hype” in “X” (“IKS” in Russian). I will briefly tell you about the reasons for the renaming and removal of all services with the word “HYIP” from the MTS line.
When I read the news on the operator’s website about the renaming of the tariff, to put it mildly, I was very surprised. Almost the most popular tariff and with a really cool name is renamed to some kind of “ICS”.
Reasons for renaming the MTS “Hype” tariff to “X”
It turns out that about a year ago, a certain company “News Media” submitted an official application to Rospatent to register the “Hype” trademark. Rospatent approved this application because No one else applied for the same trademark and it turned out that News Media now has exclusive rights to use the brand called “Hype”.
MTS lawyers situation “failed”, and News Media lawyers sued MTS for using their trademark. According to unverified data, the amount of the claim is more than 400 million rubles. Plus, News Media wanted to force MTS to remove any mention of the word “HYIP” from tariffs, services, etc., which they fully succeeded in doing. Tomorrow the tariff will be called differently.
