Given the rising popularity of NFT, it is safe to say that the once experimental trend is growing into a new type of art – crypto art. NFT means a non-fungible (non-substitutable) token (set of rules encoded in a smart contract) stored on a blockchain. Its function is to certify the uniqueness of a digital asset and prove its ownership. In other words, NFT represents a digital file that can be paintings, photos, videos, audio, and another type of files. Prices for some NFTs are shockingly high. The latest record was set at the end of 2021 when the digital artwork The Merge created by an anonymous digital artist with the nickname Pak was sold for almost $100 million on the marketplace Nifty Gateway.

Last year, the European Commission in cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), launched an SME fund The Ideas Powered For Business aiming to offer financial support for the protection of intellectual property of small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU.

It is a known fact that the Russian courts are not independent of the rulers in Kremlin, but in general, registered trademarks have up until recently been upheld in court to a large extent.

Estonia has been a forerunner in regulating services related to cryptocurrencies. Until recently, the regulatory framework was very relaxed and the barrier for entry was set low. This is subject to change as amendments to the existing laws are introduced that provide further clarity and regulation to the cryptocurrency industry. In short, requirements for providing cryptocurrency-based exchange, trading, transfer, and wallet services shall be more akin to e-money institutions and other licensed financial service providers in Europe.

In view of the gravity of the situation, and in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the European Union (“EU”) has implemented and continuously implements sanctions on Russia and Belarus.