Kalashnikov forbade the French from using his name.

Russian automatic weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov has banned a Swiss company from using his name on an energy drink.

The energy drink is produced by the Swiss-registered company Vinista and is called Kalaschnikow.

The domain kalaschnikow-energy.com was registered to promote the drink. The website hosted on this domain features...

The Paris court upheld Kalashnikov's claims and prohibited companies from "using the applicant's name for commercial purposes without permission, with the sole intention of attracting as much interest as possible to their product."

The court ordered the companies to cease distribution of the drink and pay Kalashnikov €10,000 in compensation. The domains will also be transferred to Mikhail Kalashnikov.