Held by Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ and the IP CLUB under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the 10th National Youth Contest in IT and IP law, also known as IP&IT LAW 2025, has announced its winners.
Young researchers from 18 Russian regions and CIS countries submitted about 90 entries.
The contest’s jury included experts in IP and IT law who reviewed the submitted entries and assessed them in terms of their creativity, unconventional nature, consistency, feasibility and relevance. Following its deliberations, the jury designated the following authors as winners and runners-up for the IP&IT LAW’s 2025 edition:
- Oleg Kulikov, “Widening the scope of intellectual property items through technology” (Alekseyev Research Center for Private Law, Moscow)
- Alexander Osokin, “AI’s impact on legal protections for databases in today’s world” (Lomonosov Moscow State University)
- Ilya Titov, “Holding marketplaces accountable for violating exclusive titles in and outside Russia” (Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia)
As per custom, the jury refrained from announcing who of the winners will get the top award, and will make its decision known during the award ceremony. It is scheduled to take place at EPAM Law on April 21 as part of the events marking the IP Week’s opening. The program also includes a panel discussion on IP and IT case law.
Winners will receive money prizes from the organizers. In addition to this, they will all get a chance to join an internship program at the IP Court, while the top winner will also be offered to benefit from a paid internship at EPAM Law for one or two months. The jury has also advised the IP Court Journal to publish the research projects of the winners.
Held since 2015, the IP&IT LAW contest received the RuNet Award in 2018 in the special category titled “Contributing to developing legal theory for a digital society.” In 2022, Pravo.ru included the contest on the list of major contests and academic excellence competitions in law.
IP&IT LAW is designed to identify promising avenues for developing digital law, protecting intellectual property rights in the digital environment and offering legal services to online businesses, as well as promoting research and raising public awareness about the digital economy’s legal aspects.
In 2025, the contest partnered with the IP Court, Rospatent and the Creative Industries’ Development Commission within the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, as well as Kama, the maker of Russia’s first innovative gadget-like e-vehicle ATOM, EPAM Law, Statute Law Schools, M-Logos Institute of Law, and also legal firms Alrud, Semenov & Pevzner, Zyikov & Partners, and the Garant system.
