Since June 14, Georgian (1,2,3) and Russian-language Facebook accounts (1,2), Facebook pages, as well as Russian-language account fo Threads (1,2) have been reporting that Coca-Cola is returning to the Russian market, which is evidenced by the fact that the company applied for trademark registration in Russia in April. Part of the Facebook accounts disseminated the information based on the news agency Newshub (1,2,3).
The claim about Coca-Cola is disseminated without context. According to the company, filing an application for trademark registration in Russia is not related to the renewal of business in Russia, but to the protection of the copyright of the company’s trademarks.
The information that Coca-Cola filed an application for the registration of Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite trademarks in Rospatent last April in order to renew its activities in Russia was spread in a manipulative manner. In a comment to Reuters, a representative of the company confirmed the existence of the applications, however, explained that they served to preserve the copyright on the trademarks.
The same was stated by “Coca-Cola Ukraine” in a comment to the Ukrainian media. According to the company’s press service, the company attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property and constantly tries to strengthen it worldwide. Additionally, the press service confirmed that Coca-Cola’s activities in Russia are still suspended.
Coca-Cola is not the only Western company that tries to protect its trademarks in Russia, American company Starbucks and Swedish company IKEA also made similar applications in Rospatent.
Coca-Cola ceased doing business in Russia along with hundreds of other Western companies in March 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of the same year.
About the Sources
The Facebook accounts of Levan Tavdishvili, Nona Sharabidze, Sido Sidonia, and Khatia Janashia, as well as former Ukrainian politician Andrii Telizhenko, regularly spread disinformation of anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian content. “Myth Detector” has repeatedly debunked the false information spread by these accounts in the past.
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