MOSCOW, December 9 - RAPSI. President Dmitry Medvedev signed a federal law amending the laws "On the Russian Judicial System" and "On Russian Commercial Courts" due to the establishment of the Intellectual Property Court, the Kremlin press service reports.

The State Duma adopted the law on November 23 and the Federation Council approved it on November 29.

The new federal law defines the role of the court in the commercial court system. It also proposes bringing a new party into court trials - an independent expert who must be involved in cases where the court requires an unbiased opinion or consultation on specific matters.

The IP Court will be authorized to hear petitions on the early termination of trademarks' legal protection resulting from their disuse. Such cases have been previously heard by the Chamber for Patent Disputes. The law also specifies the requirements for the IP court judges.

The new approach implies dividing intellectual property disputes into two groups - cases on rights existence (titleholder establishment) and cases on rights violation.