As Federal Law No. 214-FZ on “compensation for IP infringement” was published on 8 July 2025, it introduced significant changes to the Russian Civil Code regarding the award of compensation for the infringement of intellectual property rights. The law will come into effect in January 2026.
Key changes – general rules
- A single violation now means using someone’s intellectual property (like a copyrighted work, trademark, or patent) illegally in one specific way.
- Rules about how compensation is calculated have been moved to a new article in the Civil Code for better clarity.
- If the method of calculating compensation chosen by the rights holder doesn’t suit the situation, the court can choose a different method, including setting a fixed amount.
- The maximum fixed compensation has been increased to 10 million rubles for most types of IP. The minimum remains at 10,000 rubles, except for patents, which now have a minimum of 50,000 rubles.
- If several IP rights are violated together (eg., in one counterfeit product), the total compensation is still calculated as if only one type of right was violated.
- If only one co-owner of IP receives compensation, they must share it equally with the other co-owners.
- Entrepreneurs (businesses) who violate IP rights without fault may pay reduced compensation, but still no less than the value of the product or between 10,000 and 500,000 rubles.
- If several people violate IP rights using the same counterfeit product, they may be held jointly responsible if separate payments would result in overcompensation.
- Exclusive licensees and rights holders can now file a compensation claim together, and they will be considered jointly entitled to the money.
- The Civil Code now allows different definitions of counterfeiting for various types of IP, such as trademarks.
Copyright and related rights
- If an author’s name is missing from a source, and someone uses the work under free use rules, that is a violation of the author’s personal rights, not their exclusive rights.
- Specific actions—like removing copyright information or disabling protection systems—are now clearly listed as contributing to IP violations. The compensation amounts for these actions have been updated:
- For removing or changing author information, the penalty increases from 1,000 to 100,000 rubles.
- Using a work after such information was removed, or removing protection tools, can lead to penalties ranging from 11,000 to 11 million rubles, or up to 220% of the product or right value.
- The compensation for making or using devices to bypass protection tools has been raised from 10,000 to 5 million rubles.
Trademarks and other identifiers
- For trademarks, compensation based on double the value is only allowed if the mark was used on counterfeit goods, such as fake packaging or labels.
- For geographical indications and appellations of origin (such as special names for regional products), compensation can only be awarded in a fixed amount.
- Each person who owns rights to a geographical indication or an appellation of origin can claim between 10,000 and 5 million rubles in compensation.
These changes significantly alter the process of awarding compensation in cases of IP infringement in Russia. The rules are now more precise and more structured, offering more flexible options for courts and imposing stronger penalties in severe cases.
