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<h2>
 Russia to neglect international trademarks</h2>
The Kremlin is using Intellectual Property as one of the ways to fight back against the sanctions&nbsp;following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian government issued a new decree which exempts Russian companies from having to pay damages when infringing the patent rights of patent holders from “unfriendly countries&#8221;. As a result of the decree, the amount of compensation which should be paid to patent holders from unfriendly countries is now determined at zero&nbsp;rouble.

The Kremlin is also reviewing civil liability for trademark infringements relating to goods which are in short supply due to the sanctions against Russia. As a result, any (state owned) company could start calling themselves McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, and so on, without repercussions.
They do not intend to stop at patent rights. Russian state media has published a ‘Priority Action Plan’ with the proposal to cancel all liability for use of unlicensed software owned by copyright holders from countries which have supported the sanctions. This would effectively legalise piracy of such software.&nbsp;

<h2>
 Russian Courts</h2>
Above all, there is a real risk that Russian courts may no longer accept trademark infringement cases brought before them by foreign trademark holders, or that the Russian courts may no longer be impartial in these cases. One dangerous precedent has already been set: when Hasbro initiated legal action after a Russian company used their ‘Peppa Pig’ trademarks without authorization, a Russian arbitration court dismissed the case, referring to the sanctions taken against Russia.
While these measures may appear helpful for protecting the Russian economy in the short term, one has to wonder if abolishing the Intellectual Property rights of foreign right holders will not instead serve to isolate the Russian economy even further.

We will continue to follow this closely to manage our international brand portfolios for our clients. Questions about your (Russian) trademark protection? <a href="/contact">Please contact us.</a>

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