Attorneys of EPAM’ M&A and Corporate Practice advised Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation on the prolongation of CEO powers in order to maintain their Russian subsidiary company
The national pharmaceutical chain VITA / VITA Express, which has been operating in Russia since 1995 and numbers 1,730 pharmacies, engaged the Firm’s services after it became known that a competitor was also using a logo containing the word “ВИТА” (the Russian word for VITA) and a similar colour combination on its signs. Moreover, VITA’s opponent managed to register its logo as a trademark with Rospatent. Protecting the client’s interests proved to be challenging as the logo used by the client was different from the one protected by their trademark.
The Firm’s attorneys continue to successfully defend the patent rights of major international pharmaceutical companies. This is the fourth pharmaceutical manufacturer (along with Novartis, Bayer, and BMS) that successfully sought legal redress in the Intellectual Property Court thanks to the Firm’s team
On June 18, 2019 a meeting of the Commission on International Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Russia) was held in Moscow to elect the Chairman of the ICC Russia Commission on Arbitration. Dmitry Dyakin, Partner and Co-Head of the Litigation and Arbitration Practice at EPAM, was elected to this position by a majority vote.
On May 20, 2019 an annual meeting of the Swedish Arbitration Association (SAA) was held in Stockholm. Ilya Nikiforov, Managing Partner at EPAM, was elected as a new member of SAA executive committee and is now the only representative from Russia.
A team of lawyers from the Minsk office of EPAM took on the role of legal counsel at Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Raiffeisen Bank International AG (being the joint lead managers) on issuance and placement of debut corporate Eurobonds of JSC “Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus” totaling $500 million. The transaction was completed on May 2, 2019.
On April 18, 2019 an international conference titled “Saint Petersburg Maritime Forum: Pressing Problems of Marine Navigation” organized by the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping and River Fleet, and the Maritime Arbitration Commission at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry took place in collaboration with EPAM. The Firm’s Senior Associates Alexey Karchiomov and Andrey Tuzov spoke at the event.
A team from the Litigation Practice at EPAM in St. Petersburg, representing the interests of a client in the Commercial Court of the North-Western Federal District, secured a new hearing in a case involving a RUB 2.5 billion subsidiary liability claim against a former shareholder in Energocapital, the largest brokerage firm in north-western Russia.
EPAM is pleased to announce Evgeny Bolshakov’s appointment as a partner at the Firm effective March 1, 2019.
Attorneys of EPAM successfully defended Novartis Pharma (of Novartis Group) in the antimonopoly and legal proceedings in a dispute initiated by the antimonopoly authority to check the price of a drug, whose price had not been regulated.
EPAM announces the promotion of a number of senior associates at the Firm’s Moscow office. Effective January 1, 2019, Anton Alekseev, Alexey Rodionov and Olga Tsvetkova have been promoted to counsel.
Petersburgsky Traktorny Zavod belongs to the Kirovsky Zavod PJSC group, the oldest and the largest Russian producer of tractors. PTZ JSC tractors and other road equipment have been produced under Kirovets brand since the 1960s, and with their remarkable appearance and special model IDs, they have become widely known amongst customers over the course of their 50 year manufacturing history.
In the course of the FAS Russia (Federal Antimonopoly Service) proceedings, the Firm’s antimonopoly team succeeded in proving that the marketing program of our client’s competitor was in conflict with anti-monopoly laws. The program involved the competitor encouraging supermarket employees to promote goods in an attempt to circumvent trade law requirements, however, these actions were found to be in violation of fair competition rules.
In March 2018, Rospatent rejected the company Abrau-Durso’s registration of the ABRAU JUNIOR trademark (a new product line of carbonated non-alcoholic beverages based on grape juice as it had previously done to other brands from the ABRAU product line. The major obstacle for ABRAU in obtaining the registration was the existing Rospatent practice in which trademarks are not granted if a product’s name is similar to its place of origin.