Intellectual property

Trademarks, Copyright, Patents

Trademarks

As in most countries, in Russia trademark rights come into existence by registering your mark with the Patent office. Local trademark registrations enjoy protection along with International trademarks protected in accordance with Madrid Agreement and Protocol.

Applications filed with the Russian Patent office pass two stages of examination before the Examiner takes decision on registerability of the applied designation. Official actions of the Examiners may be appealed to the Chamber for Patent disputes – a structure within the Patent Office. Further disputes are available with the commercial court of Moscow. And there you may need trademark lawyer or expert legal advice.

Word marks, device marks, sound and color marks, their combinations are registerable in Russia. Russian trademark legislation allows multi-class applications.

You may rely on our experience in the following matters:

• Prosecution of trademark application in Russia and former USSR countries;
• Trademark disputes with the Chamber for Patent Disputes and courts – cancellations, appeals against rejecting decisions, oppositions against third-parties marks;
• Drafting of Contracts – License agreements, Assignment agreements, Franchise agreements, as well as limitation of use, consent, co-existence and other agreements affecting trademark rights;
• Enforcement of rights – we have substantial expertise in counterfeit and parallel import struggling including Court proceedings, criminal and administrative prosecution;
• Trademark searches, renewals, recordals etc.;
• Portfolio management, trademark audits and due-diligence.

Copyright

Protection of copyright in Russia does not require any formalities such as publication or deposition.

A beneficial business exploitation of your intellectual property on a national and international level needs careful and comprehensive planning and consideration in many different respects, such as negotiating and drafting license and other agreements, acquiring licenses from third parties, considering tax issues, and negotiating with copyright owners and licensees around the world. We will help and support you achieve your goals and protect your copyrights.

Patents

The Patent Legislation of the Russian Federation provides the legal protection and use of inventions, utility, models and industrial designs. The provisions of the Russian Civil Code (section IV – dedicated to Intellectual Property) are in conformity with International Treaties and are therefore similar to those in force in the majority of industrially developed countries.

In the Russian law legal protection is provided for all technical solutions related to product or process with the exception of those which traditionally are not regarded as inventions - discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, methods and rules of playing games, performing mental acts and business methods, computer programs, integrated circuit layouts, plant varieties, animal breeds and solutions consisting only in presentation of information.

Legal protection spreads over practically all actions related to commercial introduction of invention: making, using, importing, offering for sale, selling and any other introducing into business activity or storing for these purposes a product which includes patented invention.

Our legal services according to the Russian Patent Law include:

• preliminary assessment of patentability of the objects of industrial property;
• preparation of documents, required for filing application including specifications and claims for invention and utility model in all technical areas including such new fields of technology as biotechnology, immunology, gene engineering, microelectronics, lasers and optics, nanotechnology;
• filing and prosecution of patent applications in the Russian Patent Office, in the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) and in the Patent Offices of foreign and the CIS countries;
• representation of clients before the Chamber for Patent Disputes (Russian Patent Office) and before the Appeal Board (EAPO) in case of the Examination rejection decision and in oppositions against third parties patents;
• preparation and filing documents for assignment agreements' registration;
• annuity payments to keep patents in force;
• represent the interests of IP rights owners in case of patent's violation or contesting of rights for inventions and utility models.