Seminar “Issues and Practice of Performance of Intellectual Property Licence Agreements”
On 14 June 2007, the seminar “Issues and Practice of Performance of Intellectual Property Licence Agreements”, organised by LES Russia, was held in Moscow.
14 June 2007
On 14 June 2007, the seminar “Issues and Practice of Performance of Intellectual Property Licence Agreements”, organised by LES Russia, was held in Moscow. The seminar was attended by 36 participants from Russia and other countries of the former USSR.
Opening the seminar, President of the Russian Licensing Society (LES Russia), Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity at the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation, N.N. Karpova, noted the need for more active exchange of experience among licensing professionals in view of the growing role of intellectual property in the global economy, as well as the insufficient understanding by Russian manufacturers of the importance of timely and adequate protection of intellectual property. The seminar focused on current trends in technology transfer in the Russian Federation from the perspective of representatives of various organisations and business sectors.
V.M. Urezchenko, Senior Programme Manager at the ISTC, gave a presentation entitled “ISTC Experience in International Cooperation in the Creation and Use of Intellectual Property”. The goals and objectives of the organisation, sources of funding for its programmes and activities in the CIS countries were presented in detail, and the principles governing the allocation of rights to the commercial and non-commercial use of intellectual property created within ISTC programmes were examined in depth. The unusual procedures for information exchange, interaction between the parties and the contractor, and decision-making by the funding party aroused lively interest among the seminar participants. In fact, the ISTC represents a unique mechanism for commercialising the intellectual property of scientific institutions in the CIS countries, financed by the international community, and this mechanism can be successfully and mutually beneficially used by many domestic scientific organisations.
No less interest was generated by the presentation “Experience of the Russian-Chinese Technopark in Promoting the Results of Scientific and Technical Activities” by V.V. Vashchenko, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Adviser to the President of the Russian-Chinese Technopark “Druzhba”. The presentation focused on the organisational structure of the technopark, resources for Russian-Chinese technology transfer, the mechanism for commercialising Russian developments in China, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of Russian-Chinese technology transfer and ways of overcoming these disadvantages were discussed in detail. The speaker spoke with particular pride about the portal architecture and the information and marketing system of the Russian-Chinese technopark. Of particular interest to the seminar audience were the specific aspects of further developing the legal mechanism for technology transfer and adequate protection of intellectual property in China and other countries.
A.M. Lymar, Director of the Coordination and Analytical Centre for Exhibition Activities of the Federal State Institution Research Institute RINKCE of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and laureate of the President of the Russian Federation Award in Education, gave a presentation entitled “Exhibitions as an Effective Tool for Promoting New Technologies and Scientific and Technical Products in Russian and Foreign Markets”. The speaker described the main objectives of exhibition and congress events, their components and participants. Particular attention was paid to the main stages in the establishment and development of the Moscow International Salon of Innovations and Investments, which facilitates the conclusion of many technology transfer transactions. The speaker analysed in detail the dynamics of changes in the Salon’s indicators, the distribution of exhibits by priority areas, the distribution of the objectives of participants in innovation-oriented exhibitions, the distribution of exhibitors by commercialisation schemes, and described the basic criteria for selecting exhibitors and their exhibits.
D.B. Makarov, a lawyer at Gorodissky & Partners, gave a presentation entitled “Practice of Licensing Various Intellectual Property Objects in the Russian Federation”. Using specific examples, he examined the approaches taken by various courts to the possibility of royalty-free licence agreements, the validity of licence agreements that conflict with the requirements of the Law on Joint-Stock Companies, the inclusion in costs of royalty payments made for the use of a trademark under a licence agreement before its registration with Rospatent, withholding VAT by a licensee when paying remuneration to a foreign party, the validity of licence agreements that had not been duly registered, etc. The speaker also shared experience relating to the consideration by Russian courts of disputes connected with licence agreements.
The final presentation, “Practice of Contractual Relations for the Transfer of Rights to Copyright and Related Rights Objects”, by M.A. Vlasova, Senior Lawyer at Steiner, Neyman & Partners, contained a detailed analysis of judicial practice in disputes relating to copyright and related rights, in particular a recent court decision recognising the reproduction of information on a website as copyright infringement. Such a court decision is undoubtedly a positive development in Russian judicial practice.
It is worth noting that all the presentations generated equally strong interest among the seminar participants, and the seminar can undoubtedly be regarded as one of the successful events organised by LES Russia.
On 14 June 2007, the seminar “Issues and Practice of Performance of Intellectual Property Licence Agreements”, organised by LES Russia, was held in Moscow. The seminar was attended by 36 participants from Russia and other countries of the former USSR.
Opening the seminar, President of the Russian Licensing Society (LES Russia), Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity at the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation, N.N. Karpova, noted the need for more active exchange of experience among licensing professionals in view of the growing role of intellectual property in the global economy, as well as the insufficient understanding by Russian manufacturers of the importance of timely and adequate protection of intellectual property. The seminar focused on current trends in technology transfer in the Russian Federation from the perspective of representatives of various organisations and business sectors.
V.M. Urezchenko, Senior Programme Manager at the ISTC, gave a presentation entitled “ISTC Experience in International Cooperation in the Creation and Use of Intellectual Property”. The goals and objectives of the organisation, sources of funding for its programmes and activities in the CIS countries were presented in detail, and the principles governing the allocation of rights to the commercial and non-commercial use of intellectual property created within ISTC programmes were examined in depth. The unusual procedures for information exchange, interaction between the parties and the contractor, and decision-making by the funding party aroused lively interest among the seminar participants. In fact, the ISTC represents a unique mechanism for commercialising the intellectual property of scientific institutions in the CIS countries, financed by the international community, and this mechanism can be successfully and mutually beneficially used by many domestic scientific organisations.
No less interest was generated by the presentation “Experience of the Russian-Chinese Technopark in Promoting the Results of Scientific and Technical Activities” by V.V. Vashchenko, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Adviser to the President of the Russian-Chinese Technopark “Druzhba”. The presentation focused on the organisational structure of the technopark, resources for Russian-Chinese technology transfer, the mechanism for commercialising Russian developments in China, etc. The advantages and disadvantages of Russian-Chinese technology transfer and ways of overcoming these disadvantages were discussed in detail. The speaker spoke with particular pride about the portal architecture and the information and marketing system of the Russian-Chinese technopark. Of particular interest to the seminar audience were the specific aspects of further developing the legal mechanism for technology transfer and adequate protection of intellectual property in China and other countries.
A.M. Lymar, Director of the Coordination and Analytical Centre for Exhibition Activities of the Federal State Institution Research Institute RINKCE of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and laureate of the President of the Russian Federation Award in Education, gave a presentation entitled “Exhibitions as an Effective Tool for Promoting New Technologies and Scientific and Technical Products in Russian and Foreign Markets”. The speaker described the main objectives of exhibition and congress events, their components and participants. Particular attention was paid to the main stages in the establishment and development of the Moscow International Salon of Innovations and Investments, which facilitates the conclusion of many technology transfer transactions. The speaker analysed in detail the dynamics of changes in the Salon’s indicators, the distribution of exhibits by priority areas, the distribution of the objectives of participants in innovation-oriented exhibitions, the distribution of exhibitors by commercialisation schemes, and described the basic criteria for selecting exhibitors and their exhibits.
D.B. Makarov, a lawyer at Gorodissky & Partners, gave a presentation entitled “Practice of Licensing Various Intellectual Property Objects in the Russian Federation”. Using specific examples, he examined the approaches taken by various courts to the possibility of royalty-free licence agreements, the validity of licence agreements that conflict with the requirements of the Law on Joint-Stock Companies, the inclusion in costs of royalty payments made for the use of a trademark under a licence agreement before its registration with Rospatent, withholding VAT by a licensee when paying remuneration to a foreign party, the validity of licence agreements that had not been duly registered, etc. The speaker also shared experience relating to the consideration by Russian courts of disputes connected with licence agreements.
The final presentation, “Practice of Contractual Relations for the Transfer of Rights to Copyright and Related Rights Objects”, by M.A. Vlasova, Senior Lawyer at Steiner, Neyman & Partners, contained a detailed analysis of judicial practice in disputes relating to copyright and related rights, in particular a recent court decision recognising the reproduction of information on a website as copyright infringement. Such a court decision is undoubtedly a positive development in Russian judicial practice.
It is worth noting that all the presentations generated equally strong interest among the seminar participants, and the seminar can undoubtedly be regarded as one of the successful events organised by LES Russia.
See also
