Russian McDonald’s did not have time to respond to the claims of the Food and Tochka network

Eda i Tochka, a Vladivostok-based fast food restaurant chain, has not received a written response to its pre-trial trademark claim against McDonald’s successor in Russia, which has opened restaurants under the Vkusno i Tochka brand since June 12. The deadline for responding to the pre-trial claim expired on August 8, now the company will go to court, a representative of the Kovalev, Tugushi and Partners Bar Association, which represents the interests of the Food and Tochka network, told Vedomosti. Lawyers have begun preparing a statement of claim to protect the rights of the copyright holder, where they also plan to ask for compensation for the illegal use of the mark.

On July 25, PBO Systems LLC, the owner of the Vkusno i Tochka brand, received a claim demanding the immediate cessation of the use of designations confusingly similar to the Food and Tochka trademark. The Food and Tochka chain has been operating in Vladivostok since 2018, registered a trademark in 2020. Rospatent registered the Tasty – and Tochka trademark in 2022. Sergey Ponkratov, the head of the Primorsky network, has previously expressed dissatisfaction with the successors of the McDonald’s business in Russia due to with the fact that they started working under a similar brand. “We will ask for a name change. <...> We respect “Russian McDonald’s” and hope that they will contact us. If we don’t agree, we don’t find common ground, let there be a trial,” he said on June 15 (quoted by RIA Novosti).