Maxim Ali has commented to Advokatskaya Gazeta on the conclusion of one of the key disputes in the field of big data
On September, 23, the Intellectual Property Rights Court issued a ruling on appeal which approved an amicable settlement between VKontakte and Double Data in a dispute over violation of exclusive neighbouring rights to the content of the social network’s database (to read more about the dispute please visit this page >>>). Double Data pledged not to allow infringement of the social network’s rights in its activities and the parties jointly undertook to build their activities taking into account the principles of good faith in commercial relations.
According to Maxim Ali, Partner, Head of IP/IT practice at Maxima Legal, the dispute has been a key one in the field of big data over the past few years. The unique nature of the case and the strong legal teams on both parties contributed to this. “At a minimum, the dispute has highlighted complex issues of copyrightability and protection of database content. This object of intellectual property is regulated very concisely in the law. Following the first round of the case, the Intellectual Property Rights Court formulated a rather voluminous ruling, which IT-lawyers should keep in mind along with the Civil Code,” the expert explained to Advokatskaya Gazeta newspaper.
Maxim noted that an amicable settlement is a good way out for both parties, since it suits them better than the court ruling, which is always unpredictable. But Intellectual Property Rights Court`s ruling that would put an end to the case can seriously enrich the practice, the expert believes. “As for the content of the agreement, it looks like a standard solution to conclude the dispute and leave everyone with what they have. At a superficial glance, it appears that Double Data was able to “fend off” VKontakte’s claims for a guarantee not to infringe the plaintiff’s rights in the future. But this kind of agreement may be accompanied by additional agreements, which may be out of our sight,” summed up Maxim Ali.
To read the full article (in Russian) please visit Advokatskaya Gazeta ‘s website >>>