Articles and Publications

There are trademarks whose owners do not conduct business in Russia and consequently fall within three years of non-use, which may lead to the loss of their valuable assets.

According to the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), in 2023 the volume of online trade in Russia increased by 27.5% and amounted to 6.4 trillion roubles. From 2019 to 2023, the Russian e-commerce market more than tripled. This growth has triggered a series of amendments to Russian legislation in the e-commerce area, and the process is still ongoing. This situation also led to the increase of fakes in the Internet sales, especially on marketplaces, which inter alia raises legal responsibility issues of both sellers and marketplaces themselves.

Published On June 4, 2024, the Russian Supreme Court issued a decision that finalized the litigation between KRKA, d.d., Novo mesto (Slovenia), and AstraZeneca AB (Sweden) on invention patent 2643764. About half a year earlier, on January 2, 2024, the Italian Supreme Court confirmed in its final decision that Pfizer has to pay over €13.4 million in compensation to the Italian Health Ministry and Finance Ministry for abusing its dominant position in the drug market.

For the purposes of dynamic development of any large and ambitious company, entering a new market is always extremely vital. For the company that, for some reason, does not plan to create its own company, affiliate or subsidiary in a foreign jurisdiction, there are two ways of international expansion: (1) through distribution or (2) under franchising. The Russian market is no exception here – many foreign companies have entered (and keep entering it) by using one of these two commercial schemes.

Sanctions imposed on Russia by the West open up new opportunities for Chinese companies on the Russian market. What about IP owned by Chinese business in Russia?