The St. Petersburg-based IT company Barsum has won a legal battle against the major Russian systems integrator Croc Incorporated. An appellate court ordered Croc to pay 25 ₽ million in compensation for using software that was found to be an unauthorized copy of Barsum's proprietary billing solution.
The dispute centers on the Mentol Pro software, which Croc purchased from Inline Professional and subsequently supplied to VTB Bank under a contract worth 25 ₽ million. Following a series of legal proceedings, courts determined that Mentol Pro was a derivative work containing code from Barsum's Bill Works system.
The court's decision, which became enforceable on October 15, 2026, includes the full value of the contract between Croc and VTB Bank in the compensation amount. The court ruled that technical support and maintenance fees are inseparable from the software license cost, rejecting the defendant's attempt to lower the payout.
Croc Incorporated has filed a cassation appeal against the ruling. Legal experts note that this case sets a significant precedent, establishing that system integrators are responsible for the intellectual property rights of the software they deploy, regardless of whether they were aware of potential copyright infringements at the time of purchase.
