PRACTICE OF PARALLEL IMPORTING: PROTECTION OF INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES' TRADEMARKS RIGHTS IN RUSSIAN FOREIGN TRADE

The paper is devoted to the problem of the exhaustion of international companies' trademarks and other intellectual property objects rights in the foreign trade practices of Russia and other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The paper focuses on the problems of trade integration through the intellectual property market, since any free movement of goods should always be correlated with respect for the interests of the trademark rights owners. The aim of this paper is to explore the process of parallel importing in the aspect of international companies trademarks intellectual property rights in the Russian Federation and EEU countries and the opportunities and challenges it provides for both manufacturers and importers. The problem of importing products labeled with trademarks through parallel import channels to Russia is being considered using the schemes for the importation of counterfeit goods into Russia through EEU countries. The analysis shows that there are the problems with the application of the mechanisms of trademarks customs protection in practice. The main problem is the lack of unified legislation for intellectual property protection in EEU members.