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Kachkin & Partners attorneys were retained by the IP Rights Protection Agency INCO as outside experts for the in-court representation of the interests of the client, finding itself as the respondent in a claim brought by the head company of a consortium engaged in the development, distribution and support of one of Russia’s most popular legal-reference systems – Kodeks.

The claimant asserted that one of its most widespread programs was being unlawfully used by the client, in particular – being offered for download on the respondent’s website. In this connection the claimant was seeking to have the violation of its intellectual property rights recognized and the institution of a prohibition against the use of the program – constituting, inter alia, the framework of a database created and disseminated by the respondent.

Kachkin & Partners attorneys managed to convince the courts of the first and appellate instances of the lawfulness of the use of the claimant’s software. This required the analysis and presentation to the court of a comprehensive evidentiary file, including previously-concluded agreements and correspondence between the claimant and respondent – as well as court rulings in a case already concluded between the parties. At the same time the evidence presented by the claimant was put into doubt, insofar as it was insufficient to conclusively establish its exclusive rights to the version of the software being defended in court.

Disagreeing with the court rulings issued in the case, Kodeks filed a cassation appeal with the Intellectual Property Court. The claimant sought to have the court rulings which it believed to be unlawful set aside, and to have the matter resolved in its favor.

Kachkin & Partners attorneys took part in a session at the Intellectual Property Court, preparations for which were conducted in conjunction with colleagues from INCO. As a result the specialized Intellectual Property Court recognized the rightful position of Kachkin & Partners’ client, upholding the court rulings previously entered in its favor.