US: SPI appeals to Congress in Stoli battle

Lawyers representing the Russian vodka company Soyuzplodimport (SPI) are to appeal to the US Congress sub committee on trade today in regards to its battle with the Russian government for the trademark right to the world's largest vodka Stolichnaya. Richard Edlin a partner in the law firm Greenberg Traurig and counsel to SPI will call on Congress to deny the Russian state "normalization of trade," until it "is willing to be a reliable member of the world economic community, and that it is willing to respect internationally accepted principles of free trade, free markets, and private enterprise free from government persecution."