Pirate records

Deputies allowed citizens to pick mushrooms and register enterprises with the word "Russia"

Yesterday the State Duma approved in final reading the Forestry Code, amendments to the law on compulsory motor liability insurance on maintaining preferential rates for accident-free driving, as well as the new IV part of the Civil Code on the protection of brand names.

The new “anti-piracy” part of the Civil Code promises the harshest punishment for manufacturers of counterfeit products. Gross violation of copyright threatens confiscation of all equipment; violation on a particularly large scale can result in imprisonment for up to six years. Part IV of the code also introduces a rule on the protection of company names, which did not previously exist in Russian legislation, which is why many Russian copyright holders sought to register company names as a trademark.

Particular attention is paid in the bill to the conflict of rights to brand names among themselves and with rights to trademarks and commercial designations. Criteria have been established to resolve such conflicts: the copyright holder has the right to demand the termination of the use of a similar company name, trademark or commercial designation by a person engaged in similar activities, if the right to the company name arose earlier. The Civil Code, in addition, restores the licensing system for registering business names using the names “Russia” and “Russian Federation”.

The final version of the new Forest Code has been adopted. As the speaker of the chamber Boris Gryzlov stated at the plenary session, “the fundamental provision of the code is the declaration of forest resources as the property of all the Russian people.” That is why there is no talk of transferring forests to private ownership (President Vladimir Putin categorically spoke out against this during a direct call with the population at the end of October). Forest plots will be leased for a long term - up to 49 years. In accordance with the new Forest Code, legal guarantees are maintained for Russians to freely and freely stay in forests, collect mushrooms, berries, medicinal herbs for personal use, and prepare firewood. An exception will be forests located on lands intended for defense and security needs, and forests in specially protected areas.

On Wednesday, deputies also adopted in the third reading a law on maintaining preferential coefficients for compulsory motor third-party liability insurance (OSAGO) for accident-free driving. According to the new bill, insurance companies will have to take into account increasing (in the event of accidents) or decreasing (in case of accident-free driving) coefficients in relation to all persons specified in the MTPL agreement throughout their entire insurance history, regardless of the use of a specific vehicle, including changing car. According to deputies, the amendments will create an economic incentive for drivers to drive as accident-free as possible and will become an additional incentive to replace outdated vehicles with newer and safer ones.

Irina SKLYAROVA