EU has severely restricted Russian applicants in their IP rights

On June 24, 2024, the European Union adopted a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, which for the first time broadly affects the field of intellectual property.

According to the EU Council Regulation 2024/1745, the reason for the restrictions imposed is the illegal deprivation of European copyright holders by Russian executive and judicial authorities of the protection of their IP rights in Russia.

Thus, EU legislation has been amended. Now the IP Office of the Union and the member States will no longer accept new applications for registration of intellectual property objects (IPOs) - trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, appellations of origin, geographical indications submitted by Russian individuals and legal entities, or persons with permanent residence or domicile on the territory of Russia, including in the case of joint filing of applications with individuals or legal entities of non-Russian origin. Equally, any applications and requests from applicants from Russia related to the submission of such applications will not be accepted. A similar situation will arise when filing European patent applications with the European Patent Office.

In addition, the European Union promises to make every effort to ensure that the WIPO Office does not accept new applications from Russian applicants. It can be assumed that this restriction will affect international applications with an indication of the EU and will not affect other jurisdictions. At the same time, the WIPO Office has not yet reacted to these changes.

According to the adopted document, Russian applicants are also not allowed to dispose of the exclusive right to the IPOs, except in cases where such actions must be performed in order to terminate commercial activities in Russia.

In addition, starting from December 26, 2024, contractors in the EU will have a new obligation to include in the agreement the disposal of the exclusive right to the IPO a condition prohibiting contractors from using such rights in relation to a specific list of industrial goods directly or indirectly intended for sale and use in Russia.

It is still difficult to predict what the imposed restrictions will lead to. The situation will become clearer in the coming months as we see how it develops.

Source: eur-lex.europa.eu