In this review, we highlight key changes in intellectual property legislation and judicial practice relevant for 2026, and also examine the most significant bills expected to be adopted in the near future.
- Changes to the calculation of compensation for infringement of exclusive rights to intellectual property and means of individualization
Amendments to Part Four of the Civil Code concerning compensation came into force in January 2026. Briefly, here’s the gist of the amendments:
- The maximum amount of compensation in a fixed monetary amount—the primary method of protecting exclusive rights today—has been significantly increased. The new limit is 10,000,000 rubles per infringement.
- In disputes over compensation, the court has the discretion to award compensation in a fixed amount if the Plaintiff’s chosen method of calculating compensation is not relevant to the circumstances of the case. In the event of infringement of multiple intellectual property rights (for example, a copyrighted object and an industrial design) on a single counterfeit medium, the copyright holder is entitled to compensation only for the infringement of one object. Compensation is calculated according to the rules applicable to those objects for which a higher compensation limit is established.
- Special rules are being introduced regarding the liability of “bona fide entrepreneurs” who did not know and should not have known that they were committing infringements. The amount of their liability is limited: from 10,000 rubles to 500,000 rubles in a lump sum or between one and two times the value of the counterfeit product or the right to use.
For more details, see our July alert.
- Increase in fees for trademark registration and renewal
In early October 2025, fees for trademark registration and renewal were significantly increased. Fees are now calculated using the following formula: a fixed amount + an amount calculated based on the number of ICGS classes and goods in each class.
With the amendments, the cost of registering a trademark for Class 1 of the ICGS has increased from 31,000 rubles to 35,000 rubles. However, it should be noted that, according to the new rules, the number of goods and services in each class must be taken into account when calculating the fee: now, 500 rubles must be paid for each additional item over 10 in each class.
The fee for trademark renewal is calculated as follows: 22,000 rubles + 2,000 rubles for each additional ICGS class over 5 + 500 rubles x the number of goods over 10 in each class. Therefore, the cost of renewing a trademark for Class 1 of the ICGS has changed from 20,000 to 22,000 rubles.
Due to increased fees, filing a trademark requires significant costs. Furthermore, trademark owners must still carefully formulate their Nice Classification list from the very first application, taking into account both current and future business needs, as it will be impossible to add new classes or positions after filing.
- Software Distributors’ Liability for Technical Support
In December 2025, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a precedent-setting decision in the area of technical support for foreign IT products (case No. A56-24038/2024) in a lawsuit filed by a Russian legal entity against an IT distributor—a company that was not the software developer but sold the software along with a technical support certificate. Providing technical support services was the software copyright holder’s area of activity. However, in 2022, HPE left the Russian market, cutting off all interaction with Russian users. Consequently, the certificates sold to the Russian company (the end user) became invalid.
Despite the fact that the termination of access to technical support was due to the departure of the foreign company HPE (the copyright holder of the software) from the Russian market, and the software distributor does not provide technical support independently, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation essentially stated its position that the seller-distributor is obligated to refund a portion of the purchase price to the buyer, as the technical support certificates sold by it have lost their consumer value.
This decision has a significant impact on the software sales market, particularly on the activities of software distributors, who must now consider the risk of claims from end users.
- Bill: Patent Protection for IT Solutions
In November 2025, the State Duma approved in the first reading a bill amending Part Four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the patenting of IT solutions. The bill’s authors propose extending patent rights directly to solutions (i.e., software products and algorithms themselves) expressed in computer programs, separate from the physical device. If the bill is passed, developers will be able to patent their programs “in essence,” that is, as an algorithm aimed at solving a particular problem.
At the same time, the bill proposes to protect graphical interfaces for software by patenting them as industrial designs.
- Fines for using VPNs for illegal purposes have been introduced
Starting September 1, 2025, a system of administrative fines has been introduced for the following violations:
- for failure to connect to the unified system for recording blocked resources at the request of Roskomnadzor;
- if the VPN does not filter (block) prohibited information;
- For advertising VPN services.
Fines range from 50,000 to 80,000 rubles for individuals and from 200,000 to 500,000 rubles for legal entities. For repeat violations, the fine increases: for individuals – up to 100,000–200,000 rubles, for companies – up to 800,000–1,000,000 rubles.
This effectively means that companies using their own corporate VPN services must ensure filtering of access to resources prohibited in Russia.
It is important to note that the use of VPN services and discussion of VPN technology itself is not prohibited by law. However, liability may arise if a VPN is used to circumvent established restrictions (including accessing prohibited resources) or if the purpose of advertising and promoting such services is to circumvent blocking.
- New Practice of the Intellectual Property Court in Know-How Transfer Disputes
The Intellectual Property Court issued a precedent-setting decision in the area of franchise sales, as well as similar licensing agreements that transfer the right to use trade secrets. According to the Intellectual Property Court, when considering such disputes and qualifying the agreement, courts must assess the extent to which the information transferred as a trade secret actually represents commercial value, whether it constitutes know-how within the meaning of Article 1465 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and whether it complies with the objectives of the agreement.
Franchisees and licensors must now carefully draft franchise packages and more carefully document information constituting a trade secret.
- Law on the Russian Language
In June 2025, a bill was approved mandating the use of Russian in commercial designations, non-advertising materials (signs, pointers, banners, etc.), real estate names, and publicly available information. The law also specifically requires developers to use only the Cyrillic alphabet in the names of new residential complexes and construction projects, as well as in design documentation. The law aims to end the practice of assigning foreign-language names to residential complexes and settlements (neighborhoods, microdistricts).
Trademarks are an exception; they can be used in the form in which they were registered in the Latin alphabet.
According to the changes, advertising must include the Russified name of the product or service in addition to the English name. This Russian name must be equivalent in placement and technical design (have the same parameters, such as color, font type, and size) to the English text. This requirement does not apply to registered trademarks.
The changes will take effect on March 1, 2026.
- Advertising Ban on Foreign Resources
Advertising on banned and blocked resources will be banned starting September 1, 2025. This ban applies to platforms such as Instagram, Facebook (owned by Meta and recognized as extremist), LinkedIn, and Twitter.
The law now provides for administrative fines for both advertisers and distributors for placing ads on banned resources: for legal entities – from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles, for individual entrepreneurs and officials – from 4,000 to 20,000 rubles, and for individuals – from 2,000 to 2,500 rubles.
It is also important to note the need to monitor the list of websites blocked by Roskomnadzor. Roskomnadzor has the right to block resources if they violate the Law on Information Protection, for example, if they illegally post information about VPNs, violate third-party copyrights, or infringe personal data laws.
Before placing advertisements, it is necessary to monitor the platforms to ensure they do not contain prohibited information that could subsequently lead to blocking.
*** This material was prepared by Vera Zotova, Counsel in the Intellectual Property and Information Technology practice at Nordic Star, and Daria Bitkina, an Associate.