08.02.09

The importation of goods to Russia with the purpose of their subsequent sale without the consent of the legal owner to use the trademark may be outlawed. This position was contained in the draft of a decree which was discussed in the Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC).

The SAC discussed the design of a joint decree of the Plenum of the SAC and the Supreme Court (SC). This was done in connection with the introduction of the fourth part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. One of the most difficult questions that the decree concerns is the importation of goods into Russia. According to the plan, any person importing goods for sale in Russia, without the consent of the legal owner to use the trademark is violating the law. This concerns cases in which the goods are not imported for the personal needs of citizens, the needs of the legal entity, or the individual businessman. 

The impact of the decision has been far-reaching. Yesterday, the chairman of SAC, Anton Ivanov, announced that representatives from different organizations together submitted a petition asking the court not to take measures that would have an adverse effect on the majority of independent importers. According to Mr. Ivanov, the petition contains 70,000 signatures.

The advisor of the subcommittee’s chairman, Anatoly Semenov, has asserted that the decree is in fact creating a new norm that forbids independent importers to operate. He explained that resolving the issue lay beyond the problem connected to the trademarks. “Foreign firms are lobbying for such a norm because they are interested in monopolizing the Russian market through dealer networks,” stated Mr. Semenov. In his opinion, if the courts sanction official dealers, private legal operators who do not have the consent of the legal owner for the use of a trademark will be driven from the market. Thus, the Russian consumers will be forced to buy imported goods at higher prices. It especially concerns the Far East region, which has a large market for privately imported Japanese automobiles.

Anton Ivanov declared that the SAC’s position in the dispute between Genesis and customs, where the Germany's Porsche AG acts as a third party, should be announced in the near future. It is a question of whether it was legal to import the Porsche Cayenne car, which was purchased legally abroad, without the consent of the manufacturer to import it.

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Source: РБК daily