Administrative liability for unlawful use of trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin under the Russian code of administrative offences

摘要

The new Russian Code of Administrative Offences, published on 31 December 2001, which will come into force on 1 July 2002 (the 'Code'), includes a number of provisions of critical significance not only to administrative law, but also to various other aspects of legislation, in particular, intellectual property (IP) law. Article 14.10 of the Code, for example, sets forth liability for unlawful uses of trademarks, service marks, and appellations of origin ('trademarks'). Article 14.3 of the Code establishes liability for breaches of advertising legislation, including trademark infringements. Once the Code takes effect, both individuals (including officials) and legal entities will become subject to administrative liability (including that for unlawful uses of others' trademarks). Significantly, the imposition of an administrative penalty on a legal entity will not exempt the culpable individuals from being penalised for the same offence as well. Should a company official be held administratively liable, however, this will not relieve the concerned legal entity from liability.