Veronika Popelenskaya, an attorney-at-law and trademark and patent attorney of Andrey Gorodissky & Partners Intellectual Property practice has shared her expert opinion with Ъ FM radio station.
As a result of the suspension in March 2022 of operations in Russia of Coca-Cola’s Russian entity later renamed into Multon Partners, the Coca-Cola beverages have been marketed under the brand name Dobry Cola. ‘To avoid losing their corporate brand due of its non-use cancellation, - notes Veronika, - they have to renew the portfolio of their registered trademarks. For this purpose they file new applications for a slightly modified design’.
‘Their legacy marks’ three-year validity term expires in 2025 and those marks may be “killed” by Russian companies who are replacing them in our local market. By filing new applications they are staving off this risk. If they file now, our Patent Office will register the marks within one year, so they will have one year of the registration process and thereafter three more years following the date of registration for relaunching the use of their brands that have left the Russian market. However, the laws do not allow them to file applications for new marks with the same font style, colors and looking exactly the same as they appeared before. That is why they now file for a bit altered version adding a different font style, some figurative element, differing slant, i.e. the principal objective for them is to refresh the brand and reserve for themselves the right to designations Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite etc.’, clarifies Veronika.
For more details follow the link: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6772055 (Press release available in Russian language)
