Russia introduces new legislation to suspend protection of foreign IP-rights

In response to sanctions imposed on Russia, the Russian government has announced measures to suspend the protection of foreign IP-rights.

In a decree issued by the Russian government on the 7th of March 2022, Russia has effectively suspended the protection of patents held by anyone affiliated with countries deemed ‘unfriendly’. The decree states that patent holders are no longer entitled to economic compensation for patent infringement.

The list of ‘unfriendly countries’ includes the US, Australia, United Kingdom, Iceland, Canada, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Switzerland, and all EU member states.

Furthermore, the Russian government has announced that it is considering “lifting restrictions on the use of intellectual property contained in certain goods” that cannot be imported due to sanctions.  This could mean that Russian companies would be able to operate using the IP-rights of companies that have withdrawn from the Russian market.

It remains to be seen if and, if so, to which extent these contemplated additional measures will be implemented, and the consequences of these measures will inevitably vary from company to company depending on whether or not they have valuable IP-rights in Russia. The U.S. government has long warned of intellectual property rights violations in the country; last year Russia was among nine nations on a “priority watch list” for alleged failures to protect intellectual property.