By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
With its economy under assault by Western sanctions, Russia has lashed out at Western companies and their brands.
One of those attacks targeted the globally popular brand Peppa Pig, owned by Hasbro, which has essentially had its brand stolen by Moscow.
The bizarre assault on global IP law saw a Russian court ruling that Peppa Pig’s trademarks, images and branding can be used by Russian businesses without any type of punishment or consequence.
Given the nightmarish attacks on the people of Ukraine, it seems almost trivial to be writing about Russia’s assault on a cartoon character’s brand, but the ruling threatens to have a much wider impact on licensing in general. If similar cases go ahead, and it seems certain they will, then virtually any non-Russian brand could have its IP stolen and/or used without permission.
In this case, Hasbro’s eOne Ltd. (aka Entertainment One) brought a suit against a Russian entrepreneur who had created his own versions of Peppa Pig and associated characters, and was using them without a licensing agreement or permission from eOne.
Normally such a case would be a slam dunk winner for the offended party, in this case eOne, but this time the Russian court ruled the cartoon characters name, likeness and image can be used by the Russian business without any recourse or punishment. The money at stake was fairly trivial, as eOne had only asked for 40,000 roubles in compensation, about the equivalent of $400 US dollars, but the ramifications of the ruling are vast.
In making their ruling, the judges specifically pointed to the “unfriendly actions of the United States of America and affiliated foreign countries” in their ruling. It also follows an equally concerning decree from the Kremlin that now allows patented inventions and industrial designs from “unfriendly countries” to be used without permission or compensation.
In essence, it appears Russia has decided to kick over the entire structure of intellectual property protection, and another icon of American industry —McDonald’s Restaurants—may be the first target in the crosshairs of IP infringement.
McDonald’s is among the many Western businesses to announce the shut down of operations in Russia due to that country’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Now, it appears Russia is planning to simply replace McDonald’s Restaurants across the country. Last week a Russian trademark lawyer filed a trademark for a logo that is essentially a sideways version of the famous Golden Arches. The mark was filed for a business that will operate a business of “snack bars; a cafe; cafeterias; restaurants; self-service restaurants.”
The logo is a stylized ‘B’, which in the Cyrillic language would stand for the letter ‘V’, and in this case, a chain being marketed under the name Uncle Vanya’s.
If there was any doubt that Russian entrepreneurs are launching their own invasion of Western brands, you can consider the remarks of Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, a body similar to the US Congress or the British parliament.
“McDonald’s announced that they are closing. Well, good, close down!” said Volodin. “Tomorrow there won’t be McDonald’s, but Uncle Vanya’s.”
Those comments, along with the trademark filing and the Peppa Pig ruling, have raised fears that Moscow will allow local operators to open and run the 850 closed McDonald’s Restaurants.
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