Pepeliaev Group will be actively involved in the business and cultural agenda at SPILF 2018
Pepeliaev Group LLC will play an active role in the business and cultural events taking place at the 2018 St Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF), which will be held between 15 and 19 May 2018 in St Petersburg.
A business lunch “Parallel import and selective distribution: in search of balance” will be held on 17 May at 2:00 p.m. organised by Pepeliaev Group. Under current legislation, the import of goods labelled with a trademark without the consent of the rightholder constitutes an infringement of the exclusive right to the trademark. In its resolution dated 13 February 2018, the Russian Constitutional Court set a number of restrictions on the exercise by the rightholder of the power of prohibition by introducing the notion of a bad-faith rightholder. However, the court did not determine the criteria. The position of the Constitutional Court is aimed at striking a balance of the interests of all parties to the business process. However, it remains unclear where the boundaries of discretion of the legislature and of courts end. The first part of the discussion will tackle issues of parallel import and the second part will be devoted to matters of selective distribution.
Sergey Pepeliaev, the moderator of the business lunch, commented on why the selected topic is important. “The problems associated with the regulation of parallel import and selective distribution have become especially topical for international manufacturers selling their products in Russia," he said. "Pharmaceutical companies, producers of premium goods, cosmetics, and home appliances, and even car manufacturers are all at risk. When rightholders sell their goods, rather than merely selling their products to consumers, they also provide a set of services attached to those goods. Third-party distributors are not able to offer such an integrated solution. When we are talking about clothes and cosmetics, the parallel import risks come down to purchasing a low-quality product while purchasing medical products with an obscure background puts a buyer's health at risk”.
The business lunch will bring together representatives of the Russian Constitutional Court, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Federal Customs Service, the Russian Federal Service for the Supervision of Public Health and Social Development, and the Russian Patent Authority. They will be joined by representatives of the business community, which advocates the development of quality criteria and the setting of the straightforward rules of the game for all distributors of goods. The business lunch will take place in the White Pavilion of the General Staff Building.
On 14 May at 12:00 p.m., a conference “Law of caring. Intellectual property in the digital economy” will be held by the Russian Corporate Counsel Association. Sergey Pepeliaev, together with Ruslan Ibragimov, Vice President for Corporate & Legal Affairs at OJSC MTS, will moderate the first session devoted to the Constitutional foundations of intellectual property development. Valentina Orlova, Head of the IP and Trademarks Practice at Pepeliaev Group will speak about “Distributed registers - new opportunities and risks of the parties in the event of distribution of rights. The conference will take place at Hotel Astoria (Ballroom), 39 Bolshaya Morskaya.
On 16 May at 8:30 a.m., a business breakfast “Legal financing - trends and cases” organised by Kommersant publishing house will be held at the SPILF. Sergey Pepeliaev will be among the speakers. The participants will discuss the trend of legal financing, which is becoming increasingly popular among both companies and individuals. Although this trend is only emerging in Russia, the first significant results are already taking shape. The event will take place in the Gray Hall of the General Staff Building.
On 16 May at 10:00 Roman Bevzenko, Partner at Pepeliaev Group, will take part in the business breakfast “Choice of Arbitration vs the jurisdiction of the Russian state courts: Looking at the provisions of the Constitution, when it comes to contracts that contain a state element” Topic: Articles 45 to 47 and 55, as well as other provisions, of the Russian Constitution regarding the possibility for parties to a contract to seek protection of their violated rights and lawful interests before an arbitral tribunal rather than a state court. The event will take place at the Kempinski Hotel, 22 Moika embankment.
On 16 May at 15:00 a discussion session “Dialogue: Reform of the legal services market” will be held with the active involvement of Sergey Pepeilaev. The event will address the priority areas in which the market for qualified legal assistance can improve in Russia and the international experience of regulating legal services. The event will take place in the Amphitheatre of the General Staff Building.
On 17 May at 11:00 Sergey Pepeliaev will participate in a talk show “Secrets of success: An honest conversation about law firm management”, which will be led by Joanne Harris, Editor of international legal magazine The Lawyer. The participants are managing partners of leading Russian and international law firms. They will discuss a variety of topical issues including how independent firms can compete with international giants, how to survive in an era of increasingly sophisticated in-house teams, and how to attract and retain young talent. The talk show will be held in one of the halls of the General Staff Building.
A “Legal battle: MegaFon’s robot vs Roman Bevzenko” will be held on 17 May at 12:30. Pepeliaev Group’s Partner will face a legal robot, LegalApe 2.8, developed by MegaFon based on neural networks using bulks of data including case law, business correspondence, legal positions of lawyers and research works (the works of Mr Bevzenko himself among them). The event participants will see whether a robot can take on a lawyer on equal terms. The legal battle will take place in the Hyde Park area of the General Staff Building.
On 17 May at 14:00 Roman Bevzenko will participate in a discussion session: “New trends in housing development financing and mortgage lending” organised by DOM.RF JSC. The development of the housing sector and the increasing affordability of housing in the Russian Federation are inextricably linked to the development of the market for residential mortgage finance, as well as the development of various forms of financing construction. In recent years, Russia has taken a number of systemic measures aimed at making housing more affordable. Moreover, the Russian Government is currently implementing the “Mortgage and rental housing” priority project, within the framework of which various proposals are being worked through for introducing amendments to Russian legislation. These and other areas of the development of the financing of residential construction and mortgage lending are planned to be discussed within the DOM.RF discussion session. The discussion session will take place in Hall # 4 of the General Staff Building.
On 17 May at 16:30 Roman Bevzenko will participate in the discussion session: “Procurement legal regulation: Procedural audit or economic efficiency?” The discussion will be devoted to such issues as: the efficiency of procurement now that the standards under Federal Laws No. 504-FZ and 505-FZ have been implemented; procurement legislation: European experience; the arbitrability of disputes under Federal Law No. 223-FZ; the FAS’s activity in regulating procurement, and many more. The discussion session will take place in Hall # 3 of the General Staff Building.
On 17 May at 14:30 Rustem Ahmetshin, Senior Partner of Pepeliaev Group will take part in a talk show: “Legal profession: Anatomy of survival”. Globalization, economic and regulatory change, new technology and reforms in the legal services market are creating serious challenges for the legal profession. The participants will discuss how can lawyers survive in the new reality, how can we ensure high-quality legal support when budgets are limited and other important issues. The show will be hosted by Marianna Maximovskaya, a journalist and the Vice-President of the Communication Group at Mikhailov & Partners. The event will take place in the Hyde Park area of the General Staff Building.
A discussion session “The development of ecology and natural resources management in the Russian Federation: the balance of private and public interests” will be held on 18 May at 11:00 led by Pepeliaev Group Senior Associate Petr Popov.
The global trend for neutralising man-made climate change has brought the environmental agenda to the forefront of international economics and politics. Adapting to changing conditions becomes a factor for Russian resource extracting companies in terms of their ability to compete. The changes, however, require a tailored regulatory construct taking on board the best foreign practices as well as domestic interests. A round table session will feature a discussion on finding a balance between private and public interests in this area with Russian and foreign experts involved along with the representatives of resource extracting companies. The discussion will be organised by the International and Comparative Law Research Center (an independent not-for-profit organisation). The event will take place in Hall # 3 of the General Staff Building.
Pepeliaev Group will play a traditionally active role in the cultural agenda of the SPILF. On 17 May, as part of the Legal Street programme for 2018, Pepeliaev Group Yacht Club will welcome its guests to a party at the Five Intersections Strait in Social Club Bay (40/11 Rubinstein Street). Our brave captain Sergey Pepeliaev will be greeting you on the bridge. The programme for the evening is going to be eventful and diverse. Maxim Leonidov, a popular Russian singer, actor and TV host, will bring a fresh seaside and musical breeze to our party.