Coca-Cola suspected of returning to Russia: what the company did

The Coca-Cola Company has filed three applications for trademark registration in Russia. Some analysts saw this as a sign of the company's intention to resume operations in Russia, where one of the world's largest soft drink producers is from, in response to the aggressor state's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to the Russian media, the company filed applications for registration of the Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta trademarks in Russia in April 2024. The database of Rospatent, which is responsible for registering intellectual property rights in the Russian Federation, states that registration is required for beverages.

The Russian subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company did not respond to the journalists' request, but some experts suggested that this may indicate Coca-Cola's plans to return to the Russian market in the future. At the same time, other analysts believe that the company simply does not want to lose the rights to its key brands: according to Russian law, trademarks can be canceled if they are not used in the country for three years.

Since Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta were officially withdrawn from Russia in 2022, their legal protection may be terminated ahead of schedule in 2025. At the same time, the sale of these beverages in the Russian Federation continues: like many other products, they are imported under the "parallel import" scheme from other countries. In addition, the Russian division of Coca-Cola was renamed Moulton Partners and launched the production of an analog of the famous drink – Good Cola, but its recipe and taste are very different from the original.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that Starbucks also filed applications for registration of its trademarks with Rospatent. The international coffee chain, like The Coca-Cola Company, left Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

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