Legal Regulation of Commercial Designations in the Russian Federation

The commercial designation is one of the instruments of individualization, which serves as a tool for distinguishing between commercial and industrial enterprises and institutions for the the consumer. Unscrupulous actions for illegal use of the commercial designation, a violation of the exclusive rights to the commercial designation of the company can cause real damage to it. The exceptional value of this intangible asset as a commercial designation necessitates the preservation and protection of the rights to it. Separate regulation of exclusive rights of the commercial designation as an instrument of individualization has been implemented in the Russian legislation recently - with the adoption and entry into force of the fourth part of the Civil Code. This legal regulation is not enough, which is reflected in many factors, ranging from the uncertainty in determining the nature of business as a commercial designation means of individualization, ending the separate issues ways to protect the exclusive rights of commercial designation. Litigation, and explanations of states, filling some gaps of legal regulation, are still in the formative stage, however, a certain level of uniformity in the understanding of the phenomenon of commercial designation has been made. The purpose of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the institute of exclusive rights to the commercial designation, a comprehensive study of the existing Russian legislation on commercial designations and judicial practice, identifying the existing problems in the legal regulation and the doctrinal studies, as well as drawing up practical guidelines for the use of a commercial designation for the business and recommendations on protection of exclusive rights to the commercial designation of the Russian Federation.