Nokian Tyres Russia applies for new brand patents

Toward the end of December 2022, we reported that Tatneft had applied for FAS approval to buy the Nokian Tyres St. Petersburg factory. That deal, which is yet to be completed, centred on “the acquisition of 100 per cent of “Nokian Tyres LLC, Hakka Invest LLC and Nokian Shina LLC from Nokian Tyres” for just over 400 million euros.  Around the same time, the Russian national patenting body, Rospatent, reported that Nokian Tyres LLC, which operates Nokian’s Russian tyre for the Finnish tyremaker, had filed applications for the registration of new trademarks.

Specifically, the firm sought to secure intellectual rights to the Torsten, Ikonan and Ikon brands. While the purpose of those brands is not clear, industry observers agree that these trademarks are most likely being prepared for use on the St Petersburg tyre production lines in the post-Nokian Tyres era instead of the Nokian and Nordman tyre brand names.

However, as recently as January 2023, Nokian tyres confirmed that its tyre moulds – and therefore the company’s intellectual property – were stuck in Russian legal limbo: “Due to the counter-sanctions, we have not been able to transfer moulds from Russia”, a spokesperson told Tyres & Accessories. Indeed, as of January, many Nokian Tyres moulds – some sources say as many as 1200 – were stuck in Russia.

That scenario presents obvious problem when it comes to defending the company’s intellectual property (IP) rights. Nevertheless, Nokian representatives stated that while “the regulatory environment in Russia is uncertain at the moment”, the company is “using all available legal and contractual means to protect our intellectual property.”

Meanwhile, on 13 December 2022, the governor of the Leningrad region where the former Nokian Tyres factory is based, A. Drozdenko, underlined the importance of the resumption of the work of the car tyre plant. Indeed, Drozdenko reportedly specified that resumption of tyre manufacturing by “the second quarter of 2023” to “at least to the design capacity” is very important, various local news sources have reported.

In other words, Nokian Tyres faces growing pressure to complete the sale of its Russia assets and Tatneft is facing pressure to re-start the very same plans. And the combined forces will inevitably put pressure on the branding situation.