The government submitted a draft law to the State Duma that would “close” the issue of commercial liability for parallel imports. “Kommersan”.
The document proposes to include in the law providing for the anti-crisis powers of the government, the results of intellectual activity expressed in goods and the use of means of individualization, in which such goods are marked, are not a ban. breach.
At the same time, the innovation will only be valid for parallel imports listed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Ministry of Economy states that such a statement contains broad interpretation. Therefore, not only legal but also administrative and criminal liability will not apply to businessmen involved in the import, transportation and storage of parallel import goods. This will protect entrepreneurs if the copyright owner thinks their rights have been violated and takes action in court.
According to a source at one of the marketplaces, the initiative will eliminate the risks of parallel imports if trademarks are used without the permission of the copyright holders.
In response, Advanced Law attorney Lyudmila Lukyanova suggested that the bill should be supplemented with conditions under which such guarantees for entrepreneurs would expire. In addition, the current wording of the document does not specify how the owner, who wants to independently sell the listed goods in Russia, can protect his rights.
Former Ministry of Industry and Trade declarationwill revise the parallel import goods list quarterly.
The list of goods allowed for parallel imports, published on May 6, included 96 commodity items, including electronics, household appliances, clothing, shoes, cars and chemical products. On May 17, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced that goods imported through parallel imports will appear in Russia in the summer.
Source: Gazeta
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