Forbes sues over Russian "edition" of magazine

MOSCOW Aug 12 (Reuters) - Forbes magazine has opened a lawsuit against a firm in Russia's Dagestan region which published an unlicensed "special edition" of the magazine on how to do business there.

The cover of the "special edition" showed a businessman on the seashore, wearing a traditional shaggy woollen hat from the Caucasus, with the headline "How to boost your capital in Dagestan" (link.reuters.com/nes23s).

The edition, published last year, called itself "Forbes", with the name printed in the same typeface as the U.S. business magazine's.

"Forbes Media LLC, the owner of the Forbes trademark... appealed to the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Dagestan with a lawsuit for protection of its rights violated by the illegal use of its trademark," read a statement on www.forbes.ru on Thursday.

Forbes filed the complaint on Aug. 2 and said the court would hear the case on Sept. 16.

Dagestan firm Neftyanik, against whom the lawsuit was launched, could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Thomas Grove; editing by Andrew Roche)