Compensation for intellectual property rights infringement: new procedure and additional opportunities for rightsholders
On 7 July 2025, Federal Law No. 214* was adopted, introducing amendments to Part IV of the Russian Civil Code. The new provisions will come into force on 4 January 2026.
The amendments relate to changes in the procedure for claiming and calculating compensation for infringement of exclusive rights to intellectual property (“IP”).
Key amendments:
1) Court’s right to change the method of compensation calculation
The court may now use its discretion to change the method of calculating compensation applied by the claimant if such is deemed inappropriate. Previously, this option was unavailable based on Para. 59 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Resolution No. 10 dated 23 April 2019.
2) Increased limits for fixed-sum compensation
The maximum compensation for copyright, related rights, patent rights, and trademark infringement has been doubled – from RUB 5m to 10m (from EUR 55,000 to 110,000).
For patent rights infringement, the minimum amount of compensation has risen from RUB 10,000 to 50,000 (from EUR 110 to 550).
3) Amended procedure for calculating compensation in case of multiple infringements
When a single counterfeit product infringes on several IP objects simultaneously, the court may adjust the amount of compensation based on the specific circumstances and severity of the infringement.
Methods of compensation calculation
General rules of calculation
Fixed amount
From RUB 10,000–50,000 (ca. EUR 110-550) (per specific IP object)
up to RUB 10–20m (ca. EUR 110,000-220,000)
Counterfeit product’s value multiplier
Between one time and two times the value of the counterfeit product
Licence fee multiplier
More than the highest applicable licence fee, but not exceeding twice that amount
4) Use of an IP object by different means for one economic purpose constitutes a single infringement
Previously codified in Para. 56 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court Resolution No. 10 dated 23 April 2019, this rule is now formally enshrined in law.
5)New procedure for compensation to co-rightsholders
Previously, each co- rightsholder could only claim their proportional share of the compensation. Under the new rules, a single co-rightsholder is entitled to claim the full compensation amount, which is later to be distributed among all co-rightsholders.
6) Absence of fault may reduce compensation for entrepreneurs
According to the Russian Civil Code, entrepreneurs are generally liable regardless of fault. The amendments allow courts to reduce compensation if it is established that the infringer did not know and could not have known that their actions constituted an infringement:
For fixed-sum compensation – from RUB 10,000 to 500,000 (from ca. EUR 110 to 5,500).
For compensation based on the counterfeit product’s value or licence fee multipliers– from onefold to twofold of the respective value.
7) Joint and several liability within a chain of infringers
The new mechanism concerns the recovery of compensation from several persons for infringements relating to the same counterfeit product, for example, in the chain “counterfeit producer” – “distributor” – “retailer”.
It will be possible to jointly recover compensation from the infringers if holding them liable separately could result in unjust enrichment on the part of the copyright holder.
As a general rule, the compensation paid by one infringer may be recovered from other infringers, pro rata their “involvement”. If it is impossible to determine the degree of each infringer’s participation, it is presumed that the involvement was equal.
8) Certain infringements now compensated by fixed amounts only
Circumvention of technological protection measures (Art. 1299 of the Civil Code) – from RUB 10,000 to 5m (from ca. EUR 110 to 55,000).
Alteration/removal of the author information (Art. 1300 of the Civil Code) – from RUB 1,000 to 100,000 (from ca. EUR 110 to 1,100).
Infringement of rights to geographical indications or appellations of origin (Art. 1537 of the Civil Code) – from RUB 10,000 to 5m (from ca. EUR 110 to 55,000).
In addition to these amendments, it is noteworthy that citing a source that lacks the author information no longer constitutes an infringement – provided that such citation contains the source of the borrowed piece, and that such source did not contain such information. This rule applies for the cases of free use without remuneration.
Comments
These changes are intended to strengthen the position of rights holders while maintaining a balance between their interests and the public interest.
We recommend you take these changes into account while using third-party IP and protecting yours.