According to a report from the Interfax news agency, the state-owned company, Soyuzplodoimport, has claimed that the World International Property Organization has recognised as legitimate its claim to be the lawful owner of Stolichnaya trademark and other vodka brand names.
Soyuzplodoimport has been engaged in a protracted battle with the company, SPI, which claims that it legally acquired the rights to the brands from the Russian government.
Soyuzplodoimport claims that SPI’s purchase of the brands in the 1990s was not legal and that the government retains ownership of the brands which include Stolichnaya, Moskovskaya, Limonnaya, Zubrovka, Sibirskaya and Russkaya.