Coca-Cola Extends Russian Patents

The Coca-Cola Company has filed patent requests to Russia's intellectual property service, Rospatent, to register the trademarks on its core brands, Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta.

A report of the move on Friday in Russian-language business daily newspaper Vedomosti reads: "The American manufacturer of soft drinks The Coca-Cola Company, which in 2022 withdrew the Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta brands from the Russian market, filed three applications for the registration of trademarks of the same name with the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) in April," according to Google Translate.

The company announced its exit from the Russian market days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. It joined a flood of U.S. and European firms halting operations in Russia due to the conflict.

At the time, Russia accounted for roughly 2 percent of the Coca-Cola Company's operating revenue and income.

"Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine," the Coca-Cola Company said in a statement on March 8, 2022.

Despite pulling out from the Russian market, Coca-Cola beverages imported from other countries are still available in stores, Russia's state-run news agency Tass reported on Friday.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told Newsweek on Friday that intellectual property assets are of high value and importance to the company.

"We continuously take steps to enhance and reinforce these assets worldwide," the spokesperson added. "Our filings in Russia are intended to maintain our trademark rights. Our business in Russia was suspended in 2022."

Vedomosti reported that per Russian law, trademarks can be canceled if they are unused for three years.

As Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta brands were withdrawn from the Russian market in 2022, their patent protections in the country are due to expire next year, Alina Akinshina, CEO of Online Patent told Vedomosti.

A list of companies that have curtailed operations in Russia compiled by the Yale School of Management, last updated in January, includes over 1,000 names.

Akinshina suggested that the Coca-Cola Company could also be filing the patent requests to protect its brand.

Vedomosti also reported this month that Starbucks filed eight trademark patents in Russia with Rospatent, and that some were set to expire in 2025.

A spokesperson for the coffee chain told Business Insider that the company "routinely files trademark applications around the world to protect its brand."

Starbucks, like the Coca-Cola Company, and other companies, halted operations in Russia in March 2022.

"As we mentioned on March 8 [2022], we have suspended all business activity in Russia, including shipment of all Starbucks products," the company said in a statement on May 23, 2022.

"Starbucks has made the decision to exit and no longer have a brand presence in the market," the company added. "We will continue to support the nearly 2,000 green apron partners in Russia, including pay for six months and assistance for partners to transition to new opportunities outside of Starbucks."

The question remains as to if and when conditions would be appropriate for U.S. companies to start trading again in Russia.

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