Patent rights are vigorously protected in Russia – it is
therefore advisable that those interested in commercialising a
product or process perform vital risk-management analysis in order
to gauge their freedom to operate (FTO). An FTO assessment is an
inquiry into whether marketing a product or applying a process
infringes patents in the desired marketing territory. In other
words, it is the crucial prerequisite in the process of
ascertaining whether something can be commercialised without the
risk of infringing third parties' IP rights.
In this article, some of the main features of an FTO assessment
in the context of Russian law are highlighted. From the outset, a
key point to emphasise is that an FTO inquiry must examine both
Russian and Eurasian patents. Further, it is important to consider
the differences in analytical approaches to inventions and utility
model patents, explore how the doctrine of equivalents is
understood in Russia and outline the types of
