MOSCOW, June 9 (RAPSI) – Russian government has approved a bill granting courts a right to award a compensation for violation of intellectual property at the level lower than one established by the Civil Code of Russia.

According to the government, this measure will establish the proportionality of the imposed penalty and the damage caused to the holder of intellectual property rights in order to restore the balance of rights in such cases. Scale of compensation is to be calculated by considering the nature and consequences of the violation as well as its repeatability.

On December 13, 2016, the Constitutional Court of Russia has allowed courts to reduce the knowingly unjust scale of penalty for entrepreneurs obligated to pay large compensations for sale of counterfeit products. The Court noted that in certain circumstances Russian courts are allowed to reduce the penalty.