| Russia Proposes New Civil Code March 2006 CIPR has been actively lobbying and working with rightsholders to protest the Russian Government’s new proposed IPR legislation, Part Four of the Civil Code, which has been prepared for submission into the RF State Duma. This draft would annul all special intellectual property rights laws, including the Law on Copyrights and Neighboring Rights, the Law on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origins of Goods. The law was prepared by a group of lawyers, without preliminary consultations or agreement from those who the law is supposed to protect — rightsholders. CIPR is particularly concerned because the draft legislation was not the subject of public discussion. Rightsholders have noted a lack of clarity in many of the norms and inconsistence with international treaties and agreements. However, the chief objection, which is supported by most rightsholders, was that there should not be any significant changes in IPR legislation at this time. Such radical, significant changes in intellectual property rights legislation will not only weaken protection for intellectual property rights, but, at this time, when the courts have just finally developed experience in this area, may lead to a significant increase in the number of questionable court decisions and will make the fight against counterfeiters more difficult. On 2 June 2005, the Presidential Administration passed an Order to establish a working group to draft Part Four of the Civil Code. At the end of 2005, the working group completed its draft. Part Four of the RF Civil Code includes Part VII "Intellectual Property Rights and Identification Marks," which consists of eight chapters: "General Provisions," "Copyrights," "Neighboring Rights to Copyrights," "Patent Rights," "Rights to Selection Achievements," "Rights to Topologies of Integrated Circuits," Rights to Trade Secrets," and "Identification Marks of Legal Entities, Products, Work, Services, Companies and Informational Resources." Part Four of the RF Civil Code states that all special intellectual property rights laws will be annulled, including the Law on Copyrights and Neighboring Rights, the Law on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origins of Goods. Below, please find additional information on this situation as it is developing. Should you have any questions or wish to participate in debates on this legislation, please feel free to contact Dominique Winther in Moscow at +7(495)775-00-77 or
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CIPR activities and materials - June 2, 2006 — Lovells provides a full analysis of the proposed Part Four of the Civil Code. Download in Russian.
- April 28, 2006 — CIPR held a briefing in Moscow for Embassy representatives, which covered the history and background on the Part Four to the RF Civil Code, as well as the content, impact and latest political developments of the initiative. For more information, please click here.
- April 12, 2006 — Lovells, a CIPR corporate member and leading law firm in Russia, provides an analysis of patent provisions of the proposed Part Four of the Civil Code.
Download in English or Russian.
- March 7, 2006 — CIPR Roundtable "The Danger of Codifying IPR Legislation in Russia." Read
- March 9, 2006 — Government Commission Approves Concept of Civil Code, but Sends Draft Back for Revision. Read
- March 14, 2006 — Opinion Editorial in Moscow Times by Olga Barannikova, Russia Representative of CIPR. Read
- April 3, 2006 — CIPR organizes and funds with other organizations an analysis by Mr. Sergeev, Head of the Civil Code Faculty of the St. Petersburg State University. Download analysis in Russian
- April 11, 2006 — CIPR's co-counsel, Baker & McKenzie, publishes analysis of the trademark provisions of Part Four of the Russian Civil Code. Download Analysis in Russian
Other materials of interest
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