IP Court Presidium Upholds Authors’ Rights: A New Take on Grace Period Application

On December 26, 2024, the Presidium of the Intellectual Property Court (IP Court) issued a ruling in case No. SIP-1078/2023, rejecting Rospatent’s cassation appeal. The court ruled that the grace period (Clause 3, Article 1350 of the Russian Civil Code) applies to earlier priority applications if their information became publicly available within six months. This decision bolsters inventors’ rights and curbs Rospatent’s formalistic approach to novelty assessment. The full text of the ruling is available here. Currently, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property has filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court of Russia, with no decision yet rendered.