On June 30, the session “Russia and Eurasia – a Common Patent Space” was held in the margins of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum-2022.

The participants of the session discussed the common expert and information space in the region, the development of the intellectual property (IP) protection system and the phenomenon of authorship in the context of copyright and industrial property. The session was moderated by the President of the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) Grigory Ivliev.

The President of the Office noted the importance of coordinating work at all integration platforms and developing the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation to build a Greater Eurasian Partnership.

On the Russian side, the head of Rospatent, Yury Zubov, identified priority trends for cooperation within the framework of Eurasian integration: harmonization of legislation, development of a regional system for IP protection, as well as digital transformation and platform integration. Yury Zubov noted the progress in creation of digital IP solutions, which provide significant opportunities for applicants.

Kamran Imanov, Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Intellectual Property of the Republic of Azerbaijan, spoke about the phenomenon of authorship in the prism of patent and copyright law. Keeping with the topic, Mikhail Fedotov, Director of the International Scientific and Educational Center “UNESCO Chair on Copyright, Neighboring, Cultural and Information Rights” of the National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, called the institution of authorship fundamental to the IP ecosystem and “penetrating the sphere through and through”. Mikhail Fedotov also expressed the necessity of forming a general theory of authorship. Authors should be the main beneficiary of cooperation.

Dmitry Volvach, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, emphasized the advantages of the regional registration system and the development of integration processes in the field of intellectual property in the EEU.

Tatyana Neshatayeva, Judge of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union, gave her assessment of the prospects for the supranational nature of the protection of rights. At the moment, there is a problem of the lack of a unified system for the protection of patents and trademarks in the Eurasian region. In her opinion, the solution could be the creation of a supranational judicial system for the protection of IP rights in the Eurasian space: a common arbitration and a common court.

The head of the patent practice of Gorodissky & Partners Law Firm and Eurasian patent attorney Yuri Kuznetsov came up with the initiative to create a common association of Eurasian patent attorneys. The EAPO President supported the proposal as one of the essential elements of Eurasian integration in IP.

Director of the Federal Agency for Legal Protection of the Results of Intellectual Activities of Military, Special and Dual Use Sergey Fabrichny concluded the discussion by describing the licensing activities for the promotion inventions in pharmacy.

Photo: Roscongress