Starbucks had to fight for its own brand in Russia

It looks like Russia is one of Starbucks next targets for expansion, while they currently have no stores ther, their coffee is used in some coffee houses which were all the rage about 5 years ago in Moscow. But after they failed to open any stores the rights were transferred to OOO Starbucks of Russia, separate from the Seattle based company.

OOO Starbucks was simply squatting on the brand and wanted to charge $600,000 to starbucks of seattle to get their rights back. so Starbucks of Seattle tok them to court trying to fight for the right to their intellectual property. In Russia the business of registering trademarks and selling them back to their true owners is widely practiced.

Although what I'm concerned about is the fact that Tea is the preferred hot beverage of Russians. Will the Tazo Chai I often see in the american stores be enough to please the Russians and keep them coming back for more?

If I were a SBUX holder I'd be dreaming of the day when Russians are making jokes about how there's two Starbucks across the street from each other just like I do on my lovely adventures in New York City.

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