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According to local media this week, Russia’s trademark regulator has already filed a trademark application for a firm imitating McDonald’s.
The firm, which is also a fast food company, has the same logo as the North American brand but includes the famous golden arches rotated 90 degrees.
The departure of Western brands from Russia left a void in that market due to the Russian army’s attacks on Ukraine. Faced with this massive exit of brands such as McDonald’s, Ikea, Starbucks, H&M, among others, they have already emerged new Russian pirate versions that are fighting to position themselves in that void with names like Makdonalds and Starducks.
According to data from Statista and a simulation by the Kiel Institute for World Economy (IfW Kiel) details the impact sanctions and closures will have on the Russian economy, as well as the role of the sectors they target. According to these calculations, an energy embargo would have the most serious consequences, since it is estimated that Russia’s gross domestic product would fall by almost 3% if all gas imports and exports were stopped. An oil embargo, on the other hand, would cause a 1.2% drop in GDP.
Likewise, the statistics platform Statista revealed that altogether at least ten Western brands that had a presence in Russia and closed their stores are responsible for more than 125,000 workers in that country.
The copied versions of Makdonalds and Starducks
pirated versions of Russian-developed Makdonalds and Starducks are already positioning themselves to fill the void left by these two American firms.
According to local media this week, Russia’s trademark regulator has already filed a trademark application for a firm that mimics McDonald’s and whose name is “Uncle Vanya” (Uncle Vanya).
The company, which is also a fast food company, has the same logo as the North American brand but includes the famous golden arches rotated 90 degrees and forming the Russian letter ‘В’, which sounds like the ‘V’ in ‘Vanya’ in English.
As the Russian authorities have also listed trademark applications for “Starducks”, “Makdonalds” and “Makdak”which all three belong to the same applicant whose identity is unknown up to now.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian parliament, suggested last week that a brand called ‘Uncle Vanya’ should replace McDonald’s in the country.
For its part, the Russian government of Vladimir Putin indicated that it would allow individuals and companies to use without permission patents and trademarks, including brand names, of the so-called “unfriendly countries”.
Let us remember that throughout the month brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks, H&M, Inditex, Netflix, among other companies that occupy a list of more than 330 companies have announced their exit from the Russian marketleaving consumers and a number of affected employees adrift.
Since last February 24, the Russian army has established an attack and invasion of Ukraine, which according to the latest balance published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), since the beginning of the conflict As of Thursday, March 17, 690 civilians have lost their lives, of which 97 are children, and another 1,143 have been injured, including 97 minors.
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