Compensation for Inflicted Damage as a Remedy of Business Reputation of Legal Entity in Russian Law

The increased importance of intangible benefits of a company in the sphere of entrepreneurship is determined with the development of competitive environment. On the ground of such conditions company’s business reputation plays a specific role due to its nature of both a company’s image indicator and an economic value driver of a company. Whereas the real dangerous and destructive consequences of infringement on business reputation could not be underestimated: the existence of a company could be taken a flyer. In this regard, the topicality of efficient remedy for business reputation problem is more than evident. Consequently, this paper considers one of them – monetary compensation for business reputation damage, as its efficiency is predestinated with the very nature of business reputation, that has an economic character. Despite the fact, that the compensation as a remedy has no legislative consolidation, the necessity of compensation for business reputation damage as a justified and equal right to protect company’s intangible benefits is admitted by the Russian supreme judicial authorities, as well as in the international legal precedents. Nevertheless, the stumbling-block to implementation of a company’s right to monetary compensation for business reputation damage is the formalistic approach of courts, that deny either the very possibility of infringing business reputation to non-material damage, or the necessity of the very compensation, that seems to be similar to economic loss. This approach unreasonably limits the rights of a company to protect its intangible benefits, it does not consider the importance and specificity of business reputation. Thus, in this research the causes of such formalism are examined, as well as the legal grounds of admissibility and efficiency of monetary compensation for business reputation damage as a remedy are argued.