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Russia Allows Use of Other People’s Intellectual Property

The Russian government allows domestic companies and individuals to infringe the intellectual property of companies from “unfriendly countries” – whether protected by a patent, utility model or design – with impunity.

This can be concluded from a decree dated March 6, 2022 (http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202203070005). 

Therein, it is stated (in the English machine translation):

With regard to patent holders associated with foreign states that commit unfriendly acts in relation to Russian legal and natural persons […], the amount of compensation shall be 0 percent of the actual income of the person who exercised the right of use.

In other words, a patent proprietor from an “unfriendly state” cannot claim damages from a Russian company in the event of patent infringement under any circumstances.

Currently, patent holders from 48 countries – including all member states of the EU, the USA and Japan – are affected.

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