Russia Amends Trademark Infringement Penalties

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has recently signed the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which excludes imprisonment for certain offences.

The new amendments affect the provisions dealing with intellectual property infringement, namely the Article 180 covering the following offences:

• Illegal use of someone’s trademark, appellation of origin or similar designations in relation to similar goods, if such deed was conducted more than once or caused heavy damages and;

• Illegal use of warning marking in relation to the trademark or appellation of origin not registered in Russia, if such deed was conducted more than once or caused heavy damages.

Before the amendments, the only sanction for the above-mentioned offences, in case they were conducted by a group of people acting in concert or by an organized crime group, was imprisonment of up to six years with additional penalties. Under the new provisions, along with the imprisonment as envisaged by the previous provisions, the court can also apply a fine of between EUR 1,325 (USD 1,785) to EUR 25,000 (USD 36,000), or a fine corresponding to the infringer’s salary or other earnings in a period from 3 to 5 years.

For more information, please contact Elena Zubenko at our Ukraine office.

Source: PETOŠEVIĆ