Legal Updates - page 4

Following a long-standing delay in enacting a new legislation on IP fee increase, the Ukrainian government adopted amendments to all IP-related official fees on June 12, 2019.

An agreement on trademarks, service marks, and appellations of origin has been signed by the Eurasian Economic Union member states. The Agreement will take effect after 2020.

Significant amendments to Russian procedural legislation come into force in 2019.

Federal Law of December 27, 2018, № 549-FZ, “On amendments to the fourth part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation,” introduces provisional protection for industrial designs starting June 27, 2019.

By the end of 2018 Russian Patent and Trademark Office is to complete preparation of the guidelines regulating the procedure of rendering state services for registration of IP objects. Most of the guidelines were already adopted, some are under final consideration after being exposed for public comments.

EAPO and Korean IP Office signed Memorandum of Understanding on Patent Prosecution Highway.

The Decision of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights on case No. SIP-601/2017 dated June 26, 2018 confirmed that governmental economic restrictions on imports into Russia serve as a valid reason to justify non-use of a trademark.

The Supreme Court’s Ruling No. 300-KG18-3083 dated May 17, 2018 led to a significant change to the RUPTO’s practice regulating the term provided for reinstatement of lapsed patents. Now, the 3-year term for the reinstatement of rights to a patent is calculated from the date of expiration of the additional 6-month term for payment of the annuity (rather than from the regular annuity payment date).

On 13 February 2018, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation adopted Ruling No. 8-P that affects court practice in the sphere of parallel imports. The decision may not be appealed, it takes effect immediately on the date of its rendering and has direct application to relations in question.