In late September, Elena Berger, Head of the IP practice at Capital Legal Services, spoke at the IP Academy, a major Intellectual Property conference. In the regular column Intellectual Wednesdays, Elena Berger and Vladislav Scherbatykh explain in layman’s terms all the provisions on Elena’s presentation on parallel import issues.

In the Intellectual Wednesdays column, experts of the IP practice at Capital Legal Services examined a copyright dispute and denial of a claim for 117 million rubles against Philipp Kirkorov. The material is prepared by Elena Berger and Vladislav Scherbatykh.

The legal market in Russia is highly competitive, and wartime, as we know, is a time to use any means to win, even such questionable means as doubtful advertising. You have probably seen such slogans as “Guaranteed win” and “No.1 company on the market.” Can such promises and numbers be trusted?

One in a hundred. This is not a chance to win the lottery and not a bet, but rather the percentage of infrastructure projects that have actually been implemented.

On May 16, 2019 a draft law to add a new crime to the Russian Criminal Code: Article 281.1 “Facilitating Anti-Russian Sanctions” was submitted to the State Duma (it is not scheduled for hearing yet meaning that it might not move forward at all or be substantially altered). This new crime would punish, by imprisonment (up to 5 years), fines (up to 5 mln. rubles) and/or a ban on certain professional activities (for the term up 10 years), a number of activities that will have been deemed to have resulted in anti-Russian sanctions being imposed by a foreign country. The draft law would also amend the Russian Criminal Code to criminalize (under Article 128.1, Criminal Defamation) defamation of an entity or individual, if it resulted in sanctions against Russia or Russian citizens or entities.

The so-called law on offending the authorities cannot be used against people engaged in criticism, said Russian President Vladimir Putin during the traditional live teleconference.

On March 5, 2019, the State Duma adopted a draft law in the second reading concerning amendments to Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Russian Civil Code (on digital rights).

The team of Irina Onikienko, Partner, has gained a wealth of experience in providing legal support during bankruptcy procedures and has gained a deep understanding of the needs of all parties involved in such a process. This gave rise to a new practice at Capital Legal Services with a focus on bankruptcy procedures.

Review of laws improving regulation of seaport activity: January 2019.

Russian Supreme Court explains issues tied to forming and distribution of bankruptcy assets.