Registered designs

Nature of right. A registered design must be:

New.

Industrially applicable.

The holder of a patent design can:

Enjoy the exclusive rights.

Prevent others from using the registered patent design.

Alienate his rights to other persons or enter into a licence agreement.

Protection. The right is protected due to its registration. The relevant application should be filed with Rospatent.

Enforcement. Russian registered designs are generally enforced by Russian courts, but some categories of cases should be preliminary heard by Rospatent. The main remedies, granted by the courts, are:

Injunctions (which impose an obligation to spot violations of rights).

Damages.

Fines and dissolution of contract (in case of licence agreements).

Mass publication of a court decision.

Length of protection. Protection is effective for registered designs for 15 years, after which it can be renewed.

Unregistered designs

Nature of right. The nature of this right is provided by copyright and associated rights, namely it should have a creative character. A right holder can, among other things:

Reproduce the unregistered design.

Distribute it.

Make it publicly available.

Import it.

Withdraw the copyright object.

Be indicated as the author.

Protection. The rights are protected by virtue of creating the unregistered design.

Enforcement. If non-proprietary rights with regard to the unregistered designs are at issue (for example, disputes regarding authorship), then jurisdiction belongs to the courts of general jurisdiction. Rights of a proprietary character are enforced by the commercial (arbitrazh) courts. The court may grant the following remedies:

Establish that a person is indeed an author.

Injunction.

Damages.

Compensation.

Length of protection. Unregistered designs are protected indefinitely.

Copyright

Nature of right. Copyright can be over works of art, literature and science or variations of them (for example, software or audio-visual works).

A right holder can, among other things:

Reproduce the copyright object.

Distribute it.

Make it publicly available.

Import it.

Withdraw the copyright object.

Be indicated as the author.

Protection. The rights are protected by virtue of creating the copyright object. Certain objects can be registered at the discretion of the owner (for example, software).

Enforcement. This is the same as for unregistered designs (see above, Unregistered designs).

Length of protection. Length of protection depends on the type of the copyright object:

For works of art, literature and science: within the term of the author's life plus 70 years after his death.

For performance or broadcast works: within the term of the performer's life plus 50 years after his death.

Confidential information

Nature of right. To be confidential, information must:

Be of actual or potential value.

Be unknown to third parties.

Be protected from unauthorised access.

Have a special regime (for example, for a commercial secret a number of protective measures must be undertaken by the holder, such as explicit identification of certain information as confidential).

The holder can:

Enjoy the usage of this information.

Prevent other people from access.

It should be noted that the confidential information is not included on the list of intellectual property objects in Russia.

Protection. Protection can be stipulated by law, by agreement or by a special regime, imposed on it by the constituent documents of the company.

Enforcement. Confidential information can be enforced by court. The main remedies the court can grant are:

Damages.

An injunction.

Certain administrative and criminal sanctions can also apply.

Length of protection. Protection is permanent, but it is exhausted once the information is publicly disseminated.

Business name

Nature of right. To be capable of protection, a business name must:

Be an official name of the company (both full and short name).

Indicate a commercial legal entity.

Contain an indication of the legal form of the entity and have its own name.

The holder can indicate it while exercising its activity. A business name cannot be transferred to any other entity.

Protection. The right is protected due to the registration of a commercial legal entity by the tax authority.

Enforcement. The right can be enforced by the holder by filing a claim in a commercial court. The main remedy is an injunction.

Length of protection. Protection is effective on the establishment of the legal entity and it is exhausted after the winding-up of the company.

Top

Marketing agreements

27. Are marketing agreements regulated?

Agency

The Russian Civil Code (Part 2) regulates three contracts:

Agency contracts.

Commission contracts.

Engagement agreements.

These types of contract depend on whose expense a transaction is concluded. Special legislation imposes additional rules on maritime, insurance, mortgage and investment and payment agencies.

Distribution

There is no specific regulation of distribution agreements in Russia. Case law defines a distribution contract as a mixed contract with elements of sale-purchase contracts, agency, and service contracts.

Franchising

The Russian Civil Code provides special regulations for a franchising contract. Rules on licensing agreements apply to franchising unless they do not contradict special regulations on franchising. Franchising contracts must be registered at Rospatent.

Top

E-commerce

28. Are there any laws regulating e-commerce (such as electronic signatures and distance selling)?

E-commerce is regulated by:

The Civil Code. This provides general regulations for distance selling.

The Law on protection of consumer rights. This regulates consumer rights in case of the distance selling.

The Law on advertising. This regulates advertising in case of distance selling.

The Law on personal data. This prohibits the seller from disclosing personal data, communicated by the buyer.

Regulation of the Russian Government on approving rules of distance selling. This establishes the obligation of the seller to organise delivery of statutory information for the consumer.

Top

Data protection

29. Are there any data protection laws?

Data protection is provided by the:

Constitution.

Law on information, information technologies and protection of information (Law on Information).

Law on personal data (PD Law).

Code of Administrative Offences.

Criminal Code.

The Constitution guarantees the protection of personal data, while the Law on Information provides measures for protecting data. The PD Law regulates the processing of personal data. The controlling body is the Federal Service on Supervision over Communication, Information Technologies and Mass Communications, which is empowered to impose fines up to RUB10, 000. There are also criminal sanctions for the unlawful collection and usage of personal information.

Top

Product liability

30. Are there any laws regulating product liability and product safety?

Product liability is regulated for the most part by:

The Civil Code (Chapters 30 and 59). Under these provisions, in cases of product liability, the consumer is entitled to demand a decrease of the contract price, elimination of defects and reimbursement of expenses.

The Law on protection of consumer rights. This imposes pecuniary fines on sellers should they fail to eliminate the defects.

The Code of Administrative Offences. This imposes fines of up to RUB30, 000 for non-compliance with quality requirements of goods.

Resolution of the Russian Supreme Court on practice of settling consumer disputes. This must be followed by the courts while hearing such disputes.

There are also various government decrees relating to certain categories of goods, such as fast-food products.