Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) held an expanded meeting this week to discuss proposed reforms to antitrust immunities related to intellectual property rights. The session brought together officials from federal executive bodies, academic institutions, and business associations.
During the meeting, State Secretary and Deputy Head of the FAS Sergey Puzyrevsky emphasized that current legal exemptions allow dominant rights holders to abuse their market position, particularly in sectors of the digital economy. He cited enforcement cases involving major global and domestic tech firms, including Apple, Google, HeadHunter, Booking.com, and Yandex.
Puzyrevsky noted that the draft legislation under discussion is based on constitutional case law and aims to align the Competition Law with the Russian Constitution and Civil Code. Importantly, he stressed that the proposed changes would not weaken the legal protections afforded to intellectual property.
To address concerns raised by industry groups, the bill includes clarifications on when the use of IP in product distribution is permissible under competition law.
Participants agreed to continue working on the bill, incorporating feedback from legal scholars, regulators, and market stakeholders.
Source: FAS
