The former Soviet leader who went head to head with Ronald Reagan is taking the concept of intellectual property to a new place.

After a Russian vodka company started putting Mikhail Gorbachev's forehead birthmark on its bottle labels, the ex-premier moved to copyright the famous port wine stain himself.

Ironically, a strict anti-drinking initiative was one of Gorbachev’s pet projects back in his heyday of promoting Perestroika.

Political cartoonists who made the birthmark synonymous with the Communist president will be grateful he didn't think of trademarking it earlier.

But imagine the reaction of conspiracists who dubbed the stain as 'the mark of the beast' if he had.

"Given how seriously he seems to be taking these matters, companies may soon find themselves in court," observes Minneapolis trademark lawyer Michael Bondi in Inc. Magazine.