The Russian Patent Office explained that they only registered the trademark for the logo of this company, which includes ";-)". This doesn't mean that the company have a right to sue everyone who uses smilies.
I'd like to see the Trademark Application for this. Is it public record?
I mean, he certainly didn't start this, so where is this claim coming from?
Don't confuse trademark with copyright. Copyright goes to creators (or their employers in the case of work for hire). Trademarks go to folks who develop/have associations.
They're not always the same.
> "Legal use will be possible after buying an annual license from us," he was quoted by Kommersant as saying. "It won't cost that much — tens of thousands of dollars."
I will trademark all variants of "LOL", and collect every time he tries to...