In February 2018, Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that trademark owners’ claims against parallel importers may themselves be “abusive” if they unjustifiably limit importers into Russia or if the owners’ branded goods are overpriced. The Court also ruled parallel imported goods may only be confiscated and destroyed if they fail to meet required standards of quality, safety, health, environment or culture.
The court effectively ruled that IP rights should not be used to limit competition, even where rules offer the opportunity to seek compensation from the parallel importer, said Elena Sokolovskaya, head of the antitrust practice at Pepeliaev Group. That ruling created confusion for practitioners in the field, she says. “Practitioners are not very clear with all the provisions that are stipulated and we are waiting from FAS for clarifications with regards to implementation of thus Court decision,” she said.
