Russia To Better Protect IP Of Its Innovative Companies Abroad

The Russian government is considering a package of measures aimed at better protecting intellectual property of Russian innovative companies abroad, according to an official spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Communications.

At the heart of the planned measures is the establishment of a special state fund, which would assist Russian companies in the patenting of their developments abroad.

According to an official spokesman of Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Russia plans to use the experience of China, which subsidizes the cost of obtaining international patents for domestic companies. In the case of Russia, it is planned that only issued patents, not applications, will be a subject of subsidies.

According to Yevgeny Fyodorov, chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship of the Russian National Parliament (State Duma), at present Russia produces a significant percent of the global intellectual property. However, to date, neither the Russian economy nor Russian citizens have received significant income from these assets.

According to Anatoly Semenov, Russia’s ombudsman on intellectual property, currently the government pays insufficient attention to the protection of intellectual property of Russian scientists abroad, while Western sanctions have resulted in the accelerating of counterfeiting activities of Russian inventions abroad.

This primarily relates to the production of the Russian military-industrial complex.

Semenov has also added that due to sanctions, Russian companies cannot supply parts for their weapons and combat equipment, exported abroad for repair and maintenance (mainly to Western countries). This has not resulted in the suspension of these works, however, as these repairs still continue with the use of counterfeit parts.

According to state plans, with the successful implementation of these plans, the number of patents issued to Russian companies both within Russia and abroad will increase by 10,000 units. This will be equivalent to the generation of assets in the amount of 300 billion rubles (US$7 billion) and will provide a multi-billion dollar market for Russia.

According to Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky, deputy director of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a high technology business area, (that was planned to be built at Skolkovo near Moscow), particular areas of attention of the Russian government will be support of inventions in the field of information technology, energy-saving, biotechnology, and electric power.

Korobkov-Zemlyansky commented:

“If Russian inventions are not patented, neither the country nor domestic scientists will get these funds. During the Soviet times, the authors received just small awards for the inventions. There is still a disregard of copyright in the scientific field.”

According to state plans, in addition to China, there is a need to use the experience of some Western countries in protecting inventions, where a researcher or a research group receives a private or public grant for the invention. This grant includes funds for the registration of a patent.

It is planned that a future patent fund will contribute to a significant improvement in protection of Russian innovations abroad. The staff of the fund will include specialists that will provide support to scientists for the preparation of documents for the registration of a patent abroad. Specialists of the fund will also provide translating and consulting functions.

It is planned that the newly established fund will also carry out a control for inventions, assessing their potential value and the potential to bring commercial benefits.

In the meantime, Russian analysts in the field of IP have already welcomed the latest state plans.

According to Elena Polenova, a patent attorney at “Patent Intelligence”, one of Russia’s leading patent offices, the establishment of the fund that will specialise on the translation of patent applications, their adaptation and selection in terms of novelty, will significantly reduce the cost of registration of patents for the Russian developments abroad.

Russian inventors usually have problems with the translation of an application in a foreign language or proofing of their novelty, she said. A foreign attorney costs in the average of US$450 per hour, which is the most significant cost item during patent registration for Russian scientists and inventors.

Polenova also added that obtaining a patent for the invention in Russia through a patent attorney usually costs RUB 60,000 (US$1200), while in Western countries it is in the range of US$7,000-10,000, a very high price for the majority of domestic scientists.

At the same time, according to some analysts at the Russian Ministry of Communication, provision of targeted funding for the registration of Russian inventions abroad does not make sense, as Russia is still not ready for this.

According to analysts of the Ministry, at present the number of patentable technical solutions in Russia remains low. Instead, the funds should be invested in the reduction of state duties for the registration of patents in the territory of Russia, they argue. High duties for patent registration remains a very pressing problem for the country, as Russia’s accession into the World Trade Organization several years ago resulted in their increase by 40 percent.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that many Russian scientists have begun registration of their patents outside Russia, but soon after the patent is received, China and other countries make copies of their products, based on these inventions.

The majority of cases of copyright infringement are kept confidential, due to military origin of these products. An example of this is the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which is produced all over the world without a licence.