The Legal 500

Eugene Arievich’s team at Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited is ‘undoubtedly among the best in the country’. It successfully acted for Intel in the Supreme Arbitrazh Court against the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Rospatent) regarding the registration of a similar trade mark by a local telecoms company. Denis Khabarov leads on IP litigation matters, and Margarita Divina handles contractual work.

Hogan Lovells (CIS) still ‘deserves its tier one ranking’, despite the loss of Julianna Tabastajewa to Gowlings International Inc. It covers the full spectrum of IP work, and excels in life sciences matters. Highly regarded practice head Natalia Gulyaeva is representing GlaxoSmithKline in a number of patent litigations and unfair competition actions.

IP boutique Gorodissky & Partners has eight offices across Russia and enjoys an excellent reputation in patent and trade mark work. The team ‘responds very quickly’, and ‘leaves no question unanswered’. Recent highlights include winning a patent case for Merck & Co. Managing partner Valery Medvedev and Vladimir Trey are recommended.

Gowlings International Inc’s well-regarded IP practice added several further reinforcements: Julianna Tabastajewa from Hogan Lovells (CIS); IP litigator Alexander Christophoroff, formerly general counsel at the Russian Patent & Trademark Office (PTO); and senior patent attorney and scientist Alexander Sobolev.

Anton Pushkov’s team at Linklaters CIS recently successfully advised Russia’s largest national hockey league, KHL, in a trade mark dispute. The team also advises hi-tech cluster Skolkovo Fund and its major participants, such as Microsoft and ABBYY, on IP issues.

Salans’ Denis Voevodin is among ‘the best in Russia for IP’. He recently successfully represented BMW AG in a utility model patent case and BP in its first ever Russian trade dress litigation. Victor Naumov’s expertise makes the team ‘an excellent choice for IT law related work in Russia’.

ARS-Patent is mainly staffed by patent and trade mark attorneys, complemented by an in-house legal team, and focuses on prosecution matters. Patent attorney Vladimir Rybakov and trade mark attorney Elena Solovyova are recommended.

Alrud Law Firm’s lawyers are ‘a blessing’: ‘not only are they responsive, but they follow instructions and stay within agreed budgets’. Clients include a number of luxury goods and personal care companies, including Shiseido. Irina Anyukhina is ‘excellent’; ‘her advice is concise and clear’.

Baker Botts L.L.P.’s Ekaterina Tilling is ‘always quick, clear and extremely accurate’, and has ‘deep knowledge of IP law’ and ‘broad experience in arbitration and litigation’. Tilling joined in late 2010 from Goltsblat BLP, where she had also led the IP practice. Key sector strengths for the team include energy, technology and life sciences.

CMS Russia recently advised Takeda on extensive due diligence as part of its €9.6bn acquisition of Nycomed. Leonid Zubarev heads the team, which also acts for clients in the luxury goods, hotel and technology sectors.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ IP team has been considerably strengthened by its recent merger with Magisters. Pavel Sadovsky advises Sony, and Dmitry Dyakin’s clients include Micrsoft. Irina Stepanova leads the practice.

Ermakova, Stoliarova & Partners has ‘a great combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills’, and ‘the whole team has a very good level of proficiency’. The highly regarded Larisa Verbitskaia leads the team, which has been particularly busy acting for clients in trade mark registrations.

Patent attorney Maxim Vesselitsky heads the Moscow office of Euromarkpat. Vesselitsky is assisted by 11 other attorneys working in different fields of IP, as well as a team of chemical, biochemical and mechanical engineers.

Goltsblat BLP acts for several large international clients with significant IP demands. It is representing TechnoNICOL in several utility model patent disputes. Other clients include Mars and Dell. Elena Trusova is now the key contact following Ekaterina Tilling’s move to Baker Botts L.L.P..

Innotec’s IP group has acted for The Bolshoi Theatre, Wimm-Bill-Dann, Red Bull, Nokia, Samsung and Solvay.

Intels advises on IP protection, and has been involved in legislative reform.

Larisa Yatrova heads Levant & Partners Law Firm’s IP practice.

Patent & Law Firm Yus is praised for its ‘short response times’, ‘in-depth knowledge’ and ‘very cost-sensitive approach’. Practice head Andrey Svistov has ‘profound knowledge of the diverse aspects of IPR’, and is ‘excellent in deal structuring’.