Brand idea: Western companies register new trademarks in Russia
Starbucks, McDonald's, Apple and other foreign companies that left Russia are registering their new trademarks here, Izvestia has learned. At least 14 players who left the country retained their own brands in the Russian Federation. The exclusive rights to a trademark are valid for ten years, but their protection may be terminated prematurely if the copyright holder has not used it for three consecutive years. In order to "reset" trademark rights, companies register new designations similar to already registered trademarks. Among such market participants are The Coca-Cola Company, Ericsson, IKEA, Inditex, Gucci and Dior, VISA, Hyundai.
Which companies register new marks
At least 14 Western companies that left Russia have registered new trademarks with their own brand, the law firm Verba Legal has calculated for Izvestia.
So, in 2024, American Starbucks registered several new trademarks, including the approximate face of a Siren in a curved rectangle, as well as the Starbucks wordmark in January 2025, according to the law firm's report. In 2024, the manufacturer of Apple equipment registered the name of its products M2 Pro and Optical ID with a distinctive logo with a bitten apple as a trademark. South Korean Hyundai registered a series of 18 trademarks in June 2025, including Hyundai CarPay, Hyundai Motorstudio and Hyundai ix15. And the Christian Dior fashion house has a number of designations, including a logo with stylized letters C and D, follows from the data analyzed by Rospatent lawyers.
Nestle registered the graphic designation Nesquik in 2024, despite the fact that the company had previously announced the suspension of sales of this brand's products in Russia. The manufacturer protects its brands and trademarks worldwide and in all markets where its products are represented, a representative told Izvestia. According to him, the filing of trademark registration applications with Rospatent was undertaken as part of the company's "standard brand protection actions." Nestle continues to operate in Russia, focusing on ensuring the supply of basic food and beverages, as well as continuing to supply products in socially important categories, said a company representative.
In November 2025, American McDonald's issued the verbal designation Royal Cheeseburger, Mcmuffin, as well as two graphic signs Big Mac and Royal Cheeseburger with the characteristic yellow letter M in the form of two arches. In total, the American corporation, according to estimates by Verba Legal, has more than 20 new trade designations added to the registry.
The Spanish Inditex (owns the Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius clothing brands) has registered the Zara Home and Zara Timeless trademarks, according to Rospatent data. The company is constantly working to keep up-to-date the registration of its trademarks worldwide, including markets where it has no commercial presence, such as Russia, a representative of the group told Izvestia. He declined to make any other comments related to intellectual property.
In July 2024, the Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson applied for registration of two graphic designations similar to its own logo, but in a different color shade, according to Rospatent data. Ericsson is applying for the registration of its trademarks in order to reduce the risk of brand takeover by third parties in Russia and continue to protect its own brand in the country, a representative of the Swedish company told Izvestia. This is in line with Russian legislation and applicable international conventions in the field of intellectual property, he noted. The company has not conducted any commercial activities with clients in Russia since December 31, 2022, the company representative recalled.
Representatives of Starbucks, McDonald's, Apple, The Coca-Cola Company, IKEA, Gucci and Dior, VISA, Hyundai, Domino's Pizza, Nokia did not respond to Izvestia's request.
How companies protect their brands
Corporations that left the Russian market after the start of their activities in 2022 began to renew their trademark rights annually. For example, Chanel and Rolex did this, which extended the rights until 2034, Izvestia wrote in April. According to Russian law, such a right is valid for a mark for 10 years, but its protection may be terminated prematurely if the copyright holder does not use it for three consecutive years, Anton Nefediev, adviser to the Dispute resolution and Intellectual property practice at Alumni Partners, recalled.
Many foreign companies that left our market in 2022 may already face the problem of non-use of trademarks due to the expiration of the three-year period, said Alexey Vakhnin, President of the Chamber of Patent Attorneys. This means that they can be annulled, he pointed out. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 300 foreign companies have faced this problem, Bloomberg Businessweek estimates. Therefore, in order to "reset" the duration of this period in relation to already registered designations, Western companies that have ceased operating in the country apply for registration of new designations similar to already registered trademarks, said Alexey Darkov, adviser to Verba Legal.
Registration of a new trademark will not prevent the early termination of an already registered and unused designation by the company, said Alan Baspanov, Associate Lawyer at Verba legal. At the same time, such a measure will protect the brand with a new, slightly different sign, he pointed out.
The filing of new applications is usually designed to protect the updated appearance of the brand, but given the withdrawal of the foreign copyright holder from the market, it also minimizes the risk of termination of the entire trademark family due to the non-use of already registered designations, said Julia Gurieva, Managing Partner of Seven Hills Legal, patent attorney.
The news that a large foreign corporation has re-registered its brand does not mean at all that the company intends to return to Russia, Anton Nefediev said. According to him, this is rather just a "tactical action."
A brand is one of the most important intangible assets of any large corporation, said Anastasia Tretyakova, Executive Creative Director of Depot Agency. Companies have long been selling not a product, but emotions and impressions of it, where the brand plays a key role, she noted. Big brands sometimes have hundreds of years of history, so owners and marketers understand that any economic and political factors are temporary. Sometime in the future, the situation will change, and a brand with a history will be more profitable than a new one, the expert said.
At the same time, a localized version of the global brand may appear on the market, which has differences in both positioning, naming and design, Anastasia Tretyakova noted. According to her, it is possible that the brand will become closer to the audience by adapting to the realities of the region. There may also be a generation that will consider a localized brand to be authentic and believe in it, the expert noted. In this case, when returning, a foreign company has a dilemma: to leave the local version of the brand on the local market or to return to the global one.
The Russian market is quite large for Western companies, said Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics. According to his estimates, the losses of foreign corporations due to the curtailment of activities in the Russian Federation amount to at least $ 150 billion. Subject to the lifting or easing of sanctions restrictions, companies may consider returning to the domestic market, although possibly on a smaller scale than before, the expert believes.
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