Quest for inclusion in the software registry

rabiakhatun

The Register of Domestic Software is a system for recording software that was produced in Russia and meets the requirements of the Ministry of Digital Development.

If customers purchase Russian software, the state compensates them for part of the cost. If a company joins the register, it receives VAT tax benefits.

We tried to get into the register three times. At first, we filled out the application incorrectly and waited to receive a certificate from Rospatent confirming the intellectual property rights to our content writing service product. The first time we submitted the application in November 2021, and we were registered in February 2022. At the same time, in 2021 there were fewer restrictions than now.

It is worth noting that accreditation of an IT company and inclusion in the software register are not the same thing. Accredited IT companies enjoy income tax benefits and pay reduced insurance premiums. Income tax benefits are currently valid until the end of 2024. It is not the company itself that is included in the register, but its products.

If you have several services, you need to register each one separately.




If an organization is accredited as an IT company and included in the relevant register of the Ministry of Digital Development, but its products are not included in the register of Russian software, then the organization will not receive VAT benefits for them.

HOW TO GET THERE
It is necessary to prepare the documents correctly and fill out the application on "Gosuslugi". Methodological recommendations can be found on the website of the Competence Center for Import Substitution in the ICT Sphere. It is better for a lawyer to submit the application together with the developers.

First, you need to check the technical part of the software for compliance with the requirements for components and operating systems.

The product must not contain prohibited elements, such as code from foreign libraries.

Then it is important to prove that you are the copyright holder of the software. To do this, you need to register the software with Rospatent and obtain a certificate.

If there is no such certificate, then it is necessary to draw up documents for official development:

The technical specifications given to the developer;
official assignment;
contract-agreement with the developer;
order to start development;
software creation completion report;
act on accounting of intangible assets on the balance sheet of an organization.
These documents must be attached to the application. This point is the most complex and voluminous, since not all organizations approach this issue in good faith. But now there are more and more lawyers in the field of information technology and intellectual property, and companies often turn to consulting agencies for proper registration of property rights.

Next, you need to provide a test copy of the software, which the expert can deploy and view in their test environment. You also need to attach the functional characteristics of the software, which briefly describe what the product and its main components are.