Гражданско-правовая защита нематериальных благ в процессе их коммерциализации

Журнал российского права. 2025. Т. 29. № 12. С. 30–45.

Yatsenko T.

Civil law permits transactions involving a natural person’s intangible assets, but does not establish measures to protect these assets that would prevent violations during their commercialization. The law does not regulate the form and content of these transactions, nor does it define the conditions and limits for other individuals’ use of a citizen’s intangible assets. In the absence of a protection mechanism, the risk of their diminution during use in property transactions significantly increases. However, the current system of civil legal remedies for protecting intangible assets is unable to adequately respond to such violations, as it is not designed for their commercialization and does not account for the property interests of the citizen-holder of rights.

The aim of the article is to develop scientifically grounded approaches to improving the civil law mechanism for the protection of intangible assets, taking into account the needs of property circulation in the increasingly active use of these assets in various areas of economic and creative activity. 

Research methods: general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction) and specialized scientific methods, including comparative analysis and a systemic approach to studying the problem.

Conclusion. To address the problem at hand, it is necessary to improve the legal measures for civil-law protection of non-material benefits, including establishing a presumption of diminishment of non-material benefits in cases where their illegal commercialization is proven. To protect the property interests of a citizen arising from the use of their intangible assets, it is proposed to analogously apply the norms regarding the recovery of profits from the offender and the recovery of unjust enrichment obtained as a result of the illegal commercialization of this citizen’s intangible assets.

Keywords: неосновательное обогащение, нематериальное благо, компенсация морального вреда, гражданско-правовая защита, unjust enrichment, compensation for non-pecuniary damage, use of person’s identity for purposes of trade, коммерциализация нематериальных благ, disgorgement of profits, истребование доходов, person’s identity, civil law protection