Analytics and brochures

In October 2014, the Russian Civil Code was extensively amended in relation to regulating intellectual property.

Pepeliaev Group and the State Historical Museum are pleased to announce that they have completed the unique project to restore the 13th century Novgorod "Book of the Helmsman". The Novgorod "Book of the Helmsman" was created in 1280 as one of the first legal documents in Ancient Rus. Apart from Byzantine records (such as the "Syntagma Canonum" and the Serbian-edited "Nomocanon"), it comprises Russian legislative acts, including the oldest known copy of the "Russkaya Pravda" (‘Russian Justice’) and the "Zakon Sudnyi Liudem" (‘Court Law for the People’ legal codes. In the 14th century, the compendium was updated with the Prince Vladimir Charter (the oldest copy) and the Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich Charter.

The area of contract law seems to be an indicator of economic progress: a more developed economy needs a more developed law of contract. This is because a contract appears to be the best instrument for optimizing social costs and benefits; it is the motor that moves the resources from one person to the other. An economy based on less developed exchange has no need of complicated contractual forms and rules.

Russia is entering 2015 on the wave of an incipient economic crisis. The outward manifestation of that crisis is taking different forms.

Today's economic environment in Russia is highly unstable. However, rights to intellectual property assets are monopolistic in nature and, moreover, may be protected over an extended period of time. Bearing this in mind, there is continued relevance for various aspects of how intellectual property is enforced, used or protected, even during a time of economic crisis.

Transactional work varies from jurisdiction-to- jurisdiction with the ebb and flow of various economic cycles, but a prevailing theme across the EMEA region has been that more and more advisory firms are urging taxpayers to prepare for the impact of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action plan. Joe Stanley-Smith investigates how this is impacting key jurisdictions across the region.