Legal Aspects of the Trademark Exhaustion Regime in Russia and the USA: Comparative Analysis

Since 2022, the phrase "parallel import" has been constantly flashing on the Internet. The author of the paper studies regulation in the USA and the Russian Federation on the exhaustion of trademark rights, in particular, by analyzing court practice; identifies the most pressing issues facing Russian regulation after 2022; finally, presents a suitable way to further development of the institution of exhaustion of trademark rights. The central issue to be solved in the framework of the paper is to determine whether it is necessary in the Russian Federation to consolidate on a permanent basis a "partially international" principle introduced temporarily. The immediacy of the paper lies in the fact that in 2022, the Russian Federation urgently adopted acts amending the regional principle of exhaustion of law. However, these acts not only did not solve the problems completely, but also gave rise to new ones. Parallel imports are influenced by many economic, political, and cultural factors. This paper will focus on the civil and antimonopoly aspects of the institution of exhaustion of exclusive rights. The study concluded, in particular, that the concept of "parallel import" is broader than "exhaustion of rights". An exception to the international principle of exhaustion of law in the United States includes the likelihood of consumers' confusion. This confusion can happen if there is a significant difference between the original goods sold in the United States with the consent of the trademark holder and the original goods sold in the United States without the consent of the trademark holder. The difference can easily be recognized as significant in many cases, which complicates parallel imports to the United States. In Russia, the concept of a significant difference is not used.