OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2012. A delegation of the European Patent Office (EPO) has held a debate with industrialists, businessmen and intellectual property experts on the premises of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia (CCI of Russia).

Federal Service for Intellectual Property head Boris Simonov, EPO President Benoit Battistelli and representatives of Russian public organizations, business entities and research centers attended the meeting.

The sides discussed the protection of intellectual property of foreign right-holders in Russia and Russian right-holders abroad, adaptation of legal protection and observation of intellectual property rights in the Customs Union, the European shift to the regional principle of legal protection, a state intellectual property strategy and prospects for drafting this document in Russia.

CCI of Russia Vice-President Alexander Zakharov opened and chaired the event. He noted that the main challenge to Russian businessmen was economic globalization on two tracks: the entry into the WTO and the formation of the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. He thinks that the new conditions are bound to alter the state policy, including the structure of state power bodies and regulation of relations, and to increase the efficiency of law enforcement and legal remedy. On the other hand, Russian businessmen shall keep in mind the new conditions in their daily economic operations and learn to regard intellectual property rights as a central strategic business asset for protecting technologies, products and brands. Residents of BRICS member states are the most active subjects, according to the latest report of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Unfortunately, that is not characteristic of Russian applicants, Alexander Zakharov stated.

It is a mission of the CCI of Russia to energetically attract attention of the business community to intellectual property issues, to explain competitive advantages of intellectual property and to draft proposals on innovation market incentives, an increased demand for intellectual products and bigger interest of right-holders in commercialization of intellectual products.  The CCI of Russia actively promotes the enlargement of the number of Russian intellectual property experts and the formation and promotion of a national system of consulting, evaluation and certification of intellectual property.

Therefore the CCI of Russia has established a number of successfully operating committees – the Committee on Intellectual Property, the Committee on the Assistance to Modernization and Technological Development of the Russian Economy and the Committee on Scientific and Technological Innovations and High Technologies. The CCI of Russia has been granted the status of a permanent observer at the World Intellectual Property Organization and concluded a bilateral cooperation agreement. There are annual seminars in Russian regions involving Russian and international specialists in legal protection and observation of intellectual property rights, international protection included. A lot is being done to popularize and build up intellectual property awareness of businessmen and the whole society and to cultivate public intolerance for counterfeit products, Alexander Zakharov said.

He presented two initiatives of the Chamber – the annual international intellectual property contest for high school students held jointly with the Federal Service for Intellectual Property and the international forum “Intellectual Property – XXI Century” held under the aegis of the World Intellectual Property Organization with support of the Russian government and leading companies.

The Chamber has also proposed the drafting of a state intellectual property strategy under the Russian government aegis. The Intellectual Property Council supervised by Federation Council Chairperson Valetina Matviyenko and the World Intellectual Property Organization supported the proposal. The strategy presentation is scheduled for April 2013, during the VI international forum “Intellectual Property – XXI Century”, Alexander Zakharov concluded.

Federal Service for Intellectual Property head Boris Simonov said that the service had long-standing cooperation with the European Patent Office in such spheres as automation and document exchange. The sides launched a joint project in 2001 for unifying rights, which resulted in recommendations to patent experts and optimized consideration of patent appeals. Phase 2 of the project will train patent experts, Boris Simonov said.

European Patent Office President Benoit Battistelli emphasized the importance of joint efforts of Russia and the European Union in the unification of patent systems and presented the structure and areas of activity of the EPO, which is the second largest state institution in Europe. The imminent agenda of the EPO includes the introduction of a unified European patent and the establishment of the EU Patent Court. The measure will significantly cut patent expenditures of EU research centers and small and medium companies.

Also Benoit Battistelli informed the audience about the procedures and deadlines of patent decision making at the EPO, submission dynamics and plans of machine translation of the extensive patent database of the EPO into all languages of Europe, including Russian, and certain Asian states by 2014. The elimination of the language barrier will build up transparency of the patent system and organize closer interaction between European and Russian scientific and business entities, in the opinion of the EPO head.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Anti-Counterfeit 2012 international forum Aslambek Aslakhanov spoke about the Intellectual Property Council set up at the Federation Council. The drafting of a state intellectual property strategy is a strategic task, he said, noting that the strategy should put an emphasis on combating counterfeit products endangering national security. The Anti-Counterfeit forum planned for October 22-24, 2012, will help centralize efforts in the suppression of counterfeit products, Aslambek Aslakhanov said.

Representatives of Opora of Russia, the European Business Association, the Institute of State and Law and the Skolkovo Foundation took part in the debate. Russian researchers, businessmen and journalists asked them numerous questions.

The meeting witnessed the signing of a memorandum on mutual understanding in machine translation cooperation between the Federal Service for Intellectual Property and the European Patent Office.

Upon the end of the event, CCI of Russia Sergey Katyrin and EPO President Benoit Battistelli held a meeting to discuss issues of mutual interest and agreed to deepen cooperation between the CCI of Russia and the EPO.