The number of judicial disputes due to copyright and related rights has grown by a third
In 2024, the number of judicial disputes due to violation of intellectual rights in Russia grew slightly by only 5%. At the same time, the number of proceedings due to violation of copyright and related rights increased noticeably-by more than 30%. Lawyers associate a trend with an increase in the number of copyright objects, in particular domestic software (software), and cases of illegal use of visual content.
“Kommersant” got acquainted with the data of the EBR lawphir, according to which the number of registered judicial disputes related to the protection of intellectual property (IP) increased by 5%, to 55.1 thousand claims. BOThe most part of the affairs, as a year earlier, concerned disputes on the protection of exclusive rights. Their number increased by 6%, to 46.3 thousand (see infographics).
At the same time, the number of registered judicial disputes related to the protection of copyright and related intellectual rights (exclusive rights) in 2024 increased by 35% of the year, to 28.8 thousand cases. However, the number of disputes on the protection of patent rights decreased by 8% (209 claims), proceedings on trademarks – by 6% (18.1 thousand), branded names – by 43% (171 business).
A decrease in the number of disputes on trademarks in the EBR is associated with an increase in state fees.
Most often, such claims are filed by small entrepreneurs for whom it is critical. “Previously, the majority of claims for the protection of trademarks were typical cases for recovery of compensation within 1 million rubles. If before, when filing a claim for 1 million rubles. The plaintiff had to pay 23 thousand rubles. state duty, from September 2024, this amount increased to 55 thousand rubles, ”the company said. At the same time, duties were increased for appealing decisions in the appeal and cassation instances, as well as a significantly expanded list of cases when the state duty becomes mandatory, in the legal firm.
EBR data also confirm in the Consulting company RTM Group: the number of judicial disputes related to the protection of copyright and related rights is associated with an increase in the number of copyright objects, said the director of the technical department of the company Fedor Muzalevsky. The number of software registrations in the Unified Register of the Ministry of Cyphra over the past two years has grown by about 27% compared to 2022, says Boris Srepidin, deputy chairman of the legal support of the Moscow branch of the Russian Association of Russian Lawyers.
The growth of legal cases on copyrights is also associated with a large number of facts of illegal use of visual works.
“In particular, a lot of content is illegally used on marketplaces, when unscrupulous sellers of goods copy infographics or photos from other people’s cards,” recalls Georgy Davidyan, executive director of the Law-NN Law Firm.
“In the case of the return of foreign suppliers of goods, including the software, we will receive an abrupt increase in the number of claims – too many give out foreign developments for their own and too many people use counterfeit in the absence of legal supplies,” says Fedor Muzalevsky. However, the adviser to the intellectual property of the EBR Kristina Mkrtchyan recalls that in the case of marketplaces, “even if the copyright holder sends a claim to the sale of a counterfeit, for 30 days that are provided for a complaint, the seller can have time to realize all illegal goods.”
In 2025, it is possible to predict the increase in court cases on the early termination of legal protection of trademarks as a result of their non-use, said Alexander Pelich, head of the Judicial Putent Patent company. In this category of disputes, the copyright holder of the trademark must prove its use over the past three years. “And this is just the period when foreign companies left Russia,” she said. Earlier, Kommersant wrote that the court first abolished the legal protection of the trademark of a foreign company that left the market in 2022 – Ericsson. Rospatent handed over the brand of the Swedish manufacturer of equipment of the Russian company Rusklimat (See “Kommersant” from March 20).
