In the final days of the outgoing year, «A.Zalesov & Partners» and its colleagues summarized the results of the now-traditional 5th Annual Patent Congress of the Russian National Group of AIPPI, which took place on December 16, 2025, in Moscow and became one of the key events of the year in the field of intellectual property. «A.Zalesov & Partners» traditionally perform as one of the organizers and sponsors of the congress. The event, traditionally held in the halls of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, brought together numerous intellectual property professionals, including representatives of government agencies and industry, as well as practicing lawyers, patent experts and patent attorneys. Six thematic sections were held, covering the most pressing issues related to intellectual property.
Maria Makhlina, Head of the Patent Department and Partner at «A.Zalesov & Partners», convened a roundtable discussion on inventions, utility models and industrial designs, entitled "Recent Developments in the Patenting of Inventions, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs: Legislation and Judicial Practice». Representatives of the Russian national and Eurasian regional patent offices, as well as representatives of industry and professional communities, spoke at the roundtable. Numerous topical issues were discussed, in particular, Rospatent representatives spoke on the upcoming changes to Russian legislation related to IT solutions, including specific amendments planned for the Russian Civil Code and the Requirements. Representatives of the Russian and Eurasian Patent Offices discussed innovations and trends in the review of industrial design applications, including a detailed discussion of the practice of patenting IT solutions. Industry representatives discussed how a pharmaceutical company develops a patent strategy: from working with authors and building an intellectual property portfolio to establishing multi-layered protection and the specifics of portfolio management. Professional community representatives highlighted practical issues of protecting and defending various industrial property assets, including a detailed discussion of patent and technical examination.
Ivan Istomin, Head of the Patent Department Group at «A.Zalesov & Partners», reported on the existing tools for patenting utility models abroad, as well as the prospects for creating a Eurasian regional system for protecting utility models.
The «Pharma» section addressed complex, controversial issues related to patent protection in the pharmaceutical industry. Maria Porokhnya, Director of Intellectual Property at Promomed Group («The Threat of Infringement: Standards of Proof and Current Practice»), Aleksandr Korolenko, Head of Intellectual Property at an international pharmaceutical company («Patent Infringement Claims») and Evgeniya Larina, Director of the Intellectual Property Department at Biocad JSC («The Cascade of Divisional Applications and the Risks of Double Patenting»), addressed fascinating topics.
In this section, Julia Dutikova, Head of the Chemistry, Medicine and Pharmaceutical Patenting Group at «A.Zalesov & Partners», highlighted the role of clinical trials in assessing the patentability of inventions.
The section was moderated by Irina Ozolina, founder of «A.Zalesov & Partners».
It is interesting to note that the issue of using divisional applications for dual patenting was studied by WIPO in November 2025, and this issue is also up for discussion at the AIPPI International Congress in 2026.
The Patent Congress also included other sections discussing issues related to the protection and enforcement of IT solutions, IP disputes, trademarks and IP licensing. Irina Ozolina also presented a report entitled «Refusal to Protect Rights Based on Article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in Intellectual Property Disputes» in the «IP Disputes» section.