Coca-Cola registers trademarks in Russia
14 June 2024 11:18
Coca-Cola, which ceased operations in Russia after the outbreak of a full-scale war, has followed Starbucks in applying for registration of its own trademarks in Russia. This was reported by [Kommersant] reports with reference to Russian media.
Thus, the company has filed three applications for registration of its trademarks – Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta – with the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of the Russian Federation (Rospatent). According to Russian law, trademarks can be cancelled if they are not used for three years in the country. As Coca-Cola’s brands were withdrawn from the Russian market in 2022, their legal protection may be terminated early in 2025. Therefore, the company is likely to file applications in order not to lose the rights to its key brands.
Some patent law experts do not rule out that the brand registration applications may signal Coca-Cola’s intention to return to the Russian market in the future.
Coca-Cola, like many other large companies, announced its withdrawal from Russia after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the company’s drinks are still sold there under the scheme of “parallel imports” from other countries. The company’s Russian subsidiary has changed its name and produces an analogue of Coca-Cola under the brand name Dobry Cola.
In recent months, this is not the first time that an international company that left Russia because of the war has tried to register its trademarks there. Recently, the Starbucks coffee chain filed applications for trademark registration with Rospatent.
