Analytics Legal analytics Intellectual property

SPIC 1.0. Investors are given back the proven mechanism and the right to extend contracts due to the sanctions

On 14 March 2022, a law came into force reviving the SPIC 1.0 mechanism for new investment projects, and allowing extending the terms of contracts already concluded due to foreign sanctions. The amendments were developed by the Government as part of a package of anti-crisis measures.

As part of the development of this law, the Government has also clarified the rules for concluding SPIC 1.0. The updated rules came into effect on 1 April 2022.

Protection of business reputation on the Internet will become more efficient

According to the statistics of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the number of arbitration cases involving claims for protection of business reputation is increasing year by year. Specifically, in 2017, the number of satisfied claims under such cases increased almost double as compared to 2016. Increasingly, the data posted on the Internet becomes the reason for lodging a claim for protection of business reputation. At the same time, judicial defence in such cases becomes more complicated because of the lack of the efficient mechanism of enforcement of court judgments concerning the removal of damaging information. The recent legislative changes regarding enforcement proceedings and information are focused on creation of such mechanism.

Advertising legal requirements (Practical overview)

Advertising is a socioeconomic phenomenon whose uniqueness is marked by the continuous development of techniques and methods to share advertising information with consumers. Companies are always moving forward, creating new approaches how to produce advertising. This requires advertisers to be guided by law enforcement practices. This alert does not presume to analyze the entire scope of legal requirements and constraints that cover advertising, but it is intended to provide a brief practical overview of the main legal restrictions for advertising.

Anonymizers and VPN services are banned. How should the new rules be applied for business-related purposes?

On July 30th, 2017, the Russian President signed Federal Law No. 276-FZ dated July 29th, 2017 "On Introducing Amendments Into the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection". The Amendments, among other things, prohibit using technologies, information systems, and programs that permit getting around blocked sites with banned content to which access is restricted inside Russian borders. The legislative innovation will only apply to those anonymizers, VPN services, and other programs that provide access to online resources and information and telecommunication networks to which access has been blocked by the Federal Service for Oversight in Communications, Information Technologies, and Mass Communications.

Personal data: to what extent have fines increased in 2017?

Starting July 1st, 2017 amendments introduced into Article 13.11 in the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offenses entered into force, introducing significant changes in the provisions that establish the scope of liability entailed for violating legislation in the area of personal data.

LinkedIn is blocked in Russia for violation of the data protection requirements

Russian courts ruled to block access to LinkedIn in Russia due to non-compliance with the requirements for  personal data localization and data protection. The courts declined LinkedIn's arguments that it had no legal presence in Russia and was not properly informed about the claim. This is the first case when a foreign web-service was blocked for non-compliance with the personal data localization / data protection requirements.

Usage of court injunctions in IP disputes. What may be done by market players?

The mechanism of court injunctions may effectively protect the exclusive rights of market players. The APC provides enough instruments to protect the business. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the existing laws and regulations. However, the usage of court injunctions in IP-related pharmaceutical disputes is not that simple. The court’s opinion in such cases is influenced by the complexity of pharmaceutical patents and the social factor. Thus, it is crucial to form a positive judicial practice to protect the IPR of pharmaceutical manufacturers (specifically in cases related to IP protection during state procurement of medicines). Below, we provide the roadmap on current practical gaps in this sphere, and possible ways to move things forward.

Public procurement: protecting the exclusive rights of copyright holders

We present, for your information, a collection of articles on issues in the field of exclusive rights protection for copyright holders in the course of public procurement.

“To know everything” (Continued)

In 2014, the Astrel Publishing House, as the legal owner of the trademark “I want to know everything”, prohibited the AST-PRESS KNIGA Publishing House to publish a book in its “Baby’s Library” series that carried the working “I want to know everything” on its cover page. Astrel also sought to recover compensation for the illegal use of its trademark to the tune of 2.9 million rubles. However, the dispute over trademark “I want to know everything” continues.

Electronic format of the textbook: the legal regime

In accordance with Paragraph 2 of the Order of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science dated 08.12.2014 No. 1559 “On Amendments to the procedure for the formation of the federal list of textbooks recommended for use in the implementation of state-accredited educational programs of primary general, basic general, and secondary general education, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated 5 September 2013 No. 1047” starting in 2015, in the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia in the Scientific and Methodological Council for textbooks copyright terms, a person with rights to a textbook, is presented, among other things, with an electronic format of the textbook, included in the federal list of textbooks recommended for use in the implementation of state-accredited educational programs of primary general, basic general, and secondary general education. (This legal update is available only in Russian)