On June 24, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ held an extended meeting of its Legal Regulation Committee. The meeting proceeded in partnership with IP CLUB; it was moderated by Marina Rozhkova, Chair of the Legal Regulation Committee and President of IP CLUB.
The discussion focused on reforming the Russian software register, patenting IT solutions, digital twins and protection of rights to photos. The meeting was attended by members of the Legal Regulation Committee and invited experts.
The following persons spoke at the meeting:
- Artyom Yevseyev (Intellectual Property Practice Advisor at EBR Law Company) with a presentation entitled Reform of the Russian Software Registry: What the IT Industry Should Prepare for;
- Andrei Inshakov (Head of the Patent Department at Yandex, Patent Attorney) with a presentation entitled Patenting IT Solutions;
- Maria Pershonkova (Senior Associate at Kosenkov & Suvorov law firm, Patent Attorney) with a presentation entitled Digital Twins of People and the Right to Identity After Death;
- Andrei Matveenko (Senior Legal Counsel at MTS AdTech) with a presentation entitled The Limits of Protecting Exclusive Rights to Photographic Works: Case No. A53-23814/2025 as an example.
In his presentation, Artyom Yevseyev reminded the audience that registration of software in the Russian Software Register gives IT companies substantial advantages both in terms of taxation and in terms of access to government biddings — a state support for IT companies. He noted that the current requirements for the software included in the register are getting stricter: the actual contribution of the right holder and the independence of the development are assessed. It means that requirements for the software using open-source components will be much more stringent. And such requirements will also apply to the software already included in the register, therefore the right holders will have to bring their software in compliance with the new standards.
Andrei Inshakov in his presentation offered a lot of helpful advice on executing patent applications for patenting IT solutions. In particular, he recommended the applicants to pay attention to the requirements of each agency, to which the application is submitted, and describe the invention in maximum detail.
The presentation by Maria Pershonkova dwelled on the technology of digital reviving the dead — posthumous chatbots, digital avatars and digital cemeteries. Maria emphasized that all such technologies carry ethical, psychological, commercial and legal problems. She also spoke on how personal data may currently be protected after the individual’s death and how the data of a digital twin can be inherited.
Andrei Matveyev explained how the right to photographs is protected using a specific case as an example.
The full record of the Legal Regulation Committee meeting is available on the Coordination Center’s RUTUBE channel.
