After McDonald’s announced it will close all restaurants in Russia on Tuesday, the locations may be reopened due to a trademark loophole.
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Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development is reportedly planning to lift the trademark restriction companies enforced amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “The measure will allow, on the one hand, to organize the production and use of technologies that were presented in products that were deprived [by] Western companies [to] our citizens. This will smooth out the impact on the market of breaks in supply chains, as well as the shortage of goods and services that arose due to new sanctions by Western countries,” said a report from TASS.
According to Newsweek, there are no trademarks to protect American brands and Russia can hire local operators to run the restaurants. However, McDonald’s has yet to issue a statement in relation to the trademark situation.
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McDonald’s also said in a statement that they will be supporting humanitarian efforts to help Ukraine.
“At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine…McDonald’s has decided to temporarily close all our restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market.”