OREANDA-NEWS South Korean automaker Hyundai, which stopped manufacturing and selling its cars in Russia in 2022, has submitted at least 17 applications to Rospatent for trademark registration in the country, RIA Novosti found out.

According to Rospatent's electronic database, the applications were submitted in August and relate to cars, automotive components and accessories. We are talking about trademarks of both Hyundai itself and the Genesis sub-brand.

According to the current legislation, if the copyright holder does not use the trademark for three years, it can be canceled.

"Despite the uncertainty as to whether Hyundai will actually bring these products to the market, filing trademark applications is a strategy to protect names both from possible copying by third parties and from sales of cars by unofficial dealers," Margarita Tarasova, patent attorney for Online Patent, told RIA Novosti.

According to the expert, Hyundai is taking steps to protect its acronym and numeric designations related to the names of car models. In addition to this, the company also protects the visual elements of its brand.

At the end of 2023, the South Korean automaker sold its Russian industrial assets (in particular, the main plant in St. Petersburg and the former site of General Motors) to Art Finance. At the same time, Hyundai has retained its obligations for warranty and service maintenance of cars in operation in the Russian Federation.