In russia, Brands Are Being Stolen Even from “Fraternal” China

Chinese brands are steadily conquering russia’s market, but local businesses – in the “best russian traditions” – are displaying utter dishonesty and parasitizing on their success. While the kremlin proclaims a strategic partnership with Beijing, russian entrepreneurs have no qualms about stealing their partners’ intellectual property, creating clone websites and blocking genuine brands from entering the market. One example is the large-scale legal piracy in russia targeting one of China’s largest marketplaces, Poizon (Shanghai Dewu Information).

The russian-based clone – Poizon LLC – not only stole the name of the well-known marketplace in 2022 but also completely copied the design of the original Chinese website, reselling its products. By freeloading off someone else’s name, the russian company increased its revenue 24-fold by 2025 – to 860 million rubles. Moreover, the russian fraudsters were the first to register the trademarks in their own names with rospatent, which meant that the actual owners from China were unable to protect their rights for a long time.

Currently, the Chinese side is fighting in court to protect its name and is seeking a fine. This case clearly demonstrates that russia steals even from those it officially calls “friends”.

Such audacity is forcing global companies to stay one step ahead – brands are registering their trademarks in russia not to conduct business there at all, but solely as a “precaution”. This is done to prevent local opportunists from capitalizing on well-known names, setting up fake shops, and making millions off someone else’s reputation, as happened in the case of Poizon.

See also: russian propaganda portrays the registration of Western brands as a “return”