Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has secured the names "Gorbachev" and "Gorby" as brand names to protect his image, one of his aides said Thursday.
The man responsible for the fall of the Soviet empire took action out of concern at the increasing use of his name and image for commercial purposes, press attache Vladimir Polyakov told AFP.
The measure is designed to "defend Mr Gorbachev's name by legal means" against unlawful appropriation, Polyakov said, citing in particular the case of a vodka producer in the Volga city of Nizhny Novgorod who used the former president's portrait on his bottles.
Nearly 20 years on, the founder of perestroika is still remembered for his unpopular policy of attempting to crack down on alcoholism -- a social ill that has caused immeasurable problems for Russian society -- by restricting access to alcoholic beverages.
Gorbachev's dispute with the vodka producer is still unresolved and he "is prepared to take legal action," Polyakov said.
Elsewhere, the spokesman said, Gorbachev's name or image has been used without authorisation to sell construction materials in the United States and noodles in Japan.
Henceforth Gorbachev will only allow his name to be used in relation to "honourable products," he said.
In the 1990s Gorbachev allowed his name to be used to advertise Apple computers and the Pizza Hut fast-food chain.
Poliakov stressed that the money obtained from these advertising campaigns was devoted solely to "charitable causes" or projects such as the Green Cross environmental group and the building used by the Gorbachev Foundation.
Gorbachev, known popularly in the West as "Gorby" but remembered with less affection in Russia, headed the Soviet Union from March 1985 to December 1991, when the 15-republic superpower was dissolved.
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