On February 8, 2023, the second session of the Intellectual Property Consultation Point for Exporters takes place
A Belarusian individual entrepreneur selling beard care products, operating through the OZON platform, faced a lawsuit filed against him in the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region for infringing the rights of a Russian individual entrepreneur to a trademark closely resembling the name of these products, registered for the specified products. Sold on the Belarusian platform, the product (beard and mustache dye) was received by the lawyer of the Russian trademark holder at the OZON sales point in St. Petersburg. The question of the Belarusian entrepreneur concerned whether a Belarusian patent attorney could represent his interests in the specified court.
The response was based on Article 6 of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Field of Industrial Property Protection dated July 20, 1994: "When filing applications for the issuance of protective documents, obtaining protective documents, and maintaining their validity, a patent attorney of one state is granted the right to conduct business directly with the patent authority of another state, representing the interests only of national applicants...". There is no other bilateral or Eurasian agreement allowing patent attorneys of the Republic of Belarus to operate on the territory of the Russian Federation in defense of the interests of Belarusian entities.
Thus, patent attorneys of the Republic of Belarus are entitled to represent the interests of Belarusian applicants and right holders of intellectual property objects only at Rospatent and cannot represent the interests of Belarusian entities in arbitration and other courts of the Russian Federation.
However, in accordance with the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation", lawyers from foreign states may provide legal assistance on the territory of the Russian Federation on issues of the law of their respective foreign state, excluding the provision of legal assistance on issues related to state secrets of the Russian Federation. Lawyers from foreign states practicing law in the territory of the Russian Federation are registered by the federal executive body in the field of justice in a special registry. Without registration in the specified registry, the provision of legal services by lawyers from foreign states on the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited.
