Russia: Russia's Baltika asks Kremlin to protect its trademarks abroad

Russia’s leading brewer Baltika has asked Russia to help protect its brands in what Moscow calls "friendly" countries, the Vedomosti daily reported on December 29, amid a battle with Danish brewer Carlsberg over the right to use a number of trademarks.

A Russian court found in December that Baltika, Russia's second-largest brewer, could continue to use Carlsberg brands even though the Danish brewer has been stripped of control of the firm and revoked Baltika's licences.

Baltika's first vice president, Alexander Dedegkaev, told Kremlin chief of staff, Anton Vaino, in a letter that the right to use a series of major brands had been transferred to Carlsberg improperly in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Vedomosti reported, citing the letter.

Dedegkaev therefore requested that Vaino, one of the most powerful men in the Kremlin, ask the patent offices of CIS countries and Turkmenistan and Mongolia to suspend the registration of license agreements for the use of the brands, Vedomosti reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the temporary seizure of Carlsberg's stake in Baltika in July, along with French yoghurt maker Danone's Russian subsidiary.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .