Article by Olga Pleshanova on the RBC PRO: career

One party does not want to disclose the secret in advance, and the other cannot assess its value without disclosure.

Due to the contradictory approaches to defining the essence of know-how (exclusive right or actual monopoly), Russian courts, including the Intellectual Property Court, trying not to delve into the content of the production secret, left this issue to the discretion of the parties to the agreement.

This approach entailed not only the futility of disputes about the "quality" of know-how for the plaintiffs, but also to some extent paved the way for swindle.

What exactly is the complexity of know-how and what legal methods of combating swindle has the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation propose following the consideration of the cassation appeal of an individual entrepreneur in the case of know-how from the Internet (No. A65-31236/2023, reports Olga Pleshanova, the Head of the Analytical Department at Infralex.

In an article on RBC PRO:CARREER, the author recalled that, unlike a patent (which provides legal protection but discloses information), know-how remains a secret, which makes its commercial value more difficult to verify (identify) and protect.    

The expert, in detail, with references to similar disputes and doctrinal studies, analyzed the arguments of this Definition of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarding how Russian courts should now establish the presence or absence of know-how.      

Read more about this landmark case on RBC