The Americans have extended the rights to the KFC Drive brand in Russia for another 10 years

The company used the KFC Drive brand in Russia for Drive Through restaurants. The KFC Drive windows served motorists.

The brand, registered in Russia in 2014, expired on October 9, 2024. The company, which officially left Russia and sold the business in April 2023, decided to keep it.

The rest of the KFC chain’s brands are still protected in Russia; The validity period of exclusive rights over them ranges between 3 and 8 years. In Russia, KFC has also registered the brands KFC, KFC Battle, KFC Express, KFS and others, according to the Online Patent database.

Other foreign companies, for example, such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Hyundai, register their trademarks in Russia, despite having officially left the market, Alina Sidrova, a patent attorney at Online Patent, told RB.RU. In this way, companies protect brands from illegal use by third parties. In case of violations, they will have the opportunity to demand compensation of up to 5 million rubles.

Preserving the brands can also be part of a long-term strategy, which does not exclude a possible return to the Russian market in the future, Sidorova did not rule out.

• In April 2023, Yum! Brands, which owned the rights to develop KFC in Russia, announced that it had completed its exit from the Russian market by selling the Russian business to Smart Service LTD LLC, owned by Konstantin Kotov and Andrey Oskolkov. As part of the deal, Russian restaurants KFC and the Rostic’s brand were sold. Restaurants will have to change their KFC signs for Rostic’s ones.
• KFC developed restaurants in Russia with a drive-thru format. For example, in 2016, such a restaurant with a capacity of 90 people and the ability to serve up to 60 cars per hour was opened in Novokuznetsk.
• In 2015, Director of Development at Yum! Brands in Russia Tatyana Shamanskaya stated that a format that takes into account the needs of drivers is a “priority” for development in Russia.
• KFC Drive is also actively developing in Ukraine. In July 2024, the American chain KFC opened a KFC Drive restaurant in Gostomel, kyiv region, in a restored shopping center, the company reported. In 2013, the chain announced that the “world’s largest KFC Drive” with a capacity of 200 cars per hour opened in kyiv.