Apple Inc. could be getting ready to ramp up its presence in Ukraine, recent reports about the U.S. tech giant indicate.

On Aug. 10, the Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute published a document that says Apple has registered a trademark in Ukraine – Premium Reseller. This strongly suggests the company is preparing to open official offline and online stores in the country under the brand.

Apple Premium Resellers are stores that resell exclusively Apple products. The company also designs websites, sells music and electronics, and provide technical services and support under this trademark.

While Apple could offer the same services in Ukraine without having to register the trademark, this move fully secures their copyrights in Ukraine, ePravo law firm co-founder Vitalii Vlasiuk told the Kyiv Post.

“This legally defends them from unscrupulous rivalry and the unauthorized use of their trademark,” Vlasiuk said. “This gives them a possibility to eliminate violations and to use all means of protection of trademarks (in Ukraine).”

Apple currently has certified two stores – iStudio and iSmart – that sell the company’s products and provide customers with technical support in Ukraine.

Siri trademark

And Premium Resellers isn’t the only trademark Apple has registered in Ukraine: In August, the tech company registered the trademark Siri, the name of the Apple voice assistant built-in to Apple products, including iPods, iPhones, Apple Watches, MacBooks and iMacs.

The company hasn’t publicly announced the reason for registering the patents.

Apple Pay rumors

Apart from registering trademarks, Apple appears to be gearing up to launch its popular mobile payment system Apple Pay in Ukraine in 2018, according to Maxim Patrin, an e-business executive at Alfa-Bank Ukraine. He claims sources at Apple have told him of the plans.

Apple Pay is a function available on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple Watches that allows users to enter their credit and debit card details onto a device and use them to make payments online and in-store.

Apple brings the service to countries only once certain quantity of iPhones and contactless debit and credit machines are present, as Apple Pay is compatible only with them. It seems Ukraine has already reached that point, Patrin said in an interview with core publication PaySpace on May 31.

But even though Ukraine’s legislation allows the use of international online payment systems, the rollout may run into problems, says ePravo’s Vlasiuk.

This happened with PayPal – another universally popular U.S. online payment system that has not reached Ukraine yet. The reason? The Ukrainian legislation is “not clear and not detailed enough,” says Vlasiuk.

“I’m afraid that if certain (clarifying and detailing) legislative work isn’t done, Apple Pay may end up just like PayPal.”

The article includes reporting by Regina Dickson. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by Ciklum. The content is independent of the donors.