Russia Permits patent theft to the Non-Friendly Countries?

 

Russian invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions,

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, many countries condemned it and imposed economic sanctions. The European Union has banned the import of Russian products, and the United States has also imposed a ban on Russian energy imports. In addition, Russian banks were expelled from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network. After economic sanctions, the value of the Russian ruble plummeted by nearly 30%, and prices rose rapidly. In addition to economic sanctions, intellectual property rights were also sanctioned. The United States and Europe have decided to suspend cooperation with the Russian Patent Office.

                                                               ▲ clipartkorea.co.kr

Russia allows to steal patents of the non-friendly countries,

Despite global sanctions, Russia continued the war. Rather, Russia has designated the countries that participated in the economic sanctions as non-friendly countries and began to retaliate. It banned the export of industrial sapphire, a key LED material, and decided to repay foreign debts in rubles, which have plummeted in value, rather than dollars. In addition, on the 10th, they declared that they do not guarantee the patent rights of unfriendly countries. With this declaration, even if the patent is used without permission in Russia, compensation for damages or infringement suit cannot be filed.

                                                                 ▲ clipartkorea.co.kr

Russia also wants to remove trademark restrictions,

After the invasion, more than 50 global companies such as McDonald's, which was a symbol of the end of the Cold War, IKEA, Samsung, and Netflix, decided to withdraw from Russia. Russian police have warned that they will seize the assets of evacuated companies, and the Russian government has also discussed a policy of nationalizing the confiscated assets. In addition, it is known that the abolition of protection for some trademark rights as well as patents is being considered. If trademark protection is abolished, it is expected that local companies will use the names of global companies that have withdrawn from Russia without permission.

                                                       ▲ McDonald website in Russia 

Self-made international isolation,

Russia has a “compulsory license mechanism” regulation that allows the theft of intellectual property rights, such as software, databases and integrated circuit technology, in defense and security-related emergencies. The measure, based on this rule, also applies to non-fungible IP rights, making it possible to steal patents even if the country is not actually designated as a non-friendly country. Russia's infringement of IP rights has been a problem for a long time, but now it is no different than publicly declaring that they will infringe.

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Russia is increasingly isolated from the international community by ignoring international treaties. It is noteworthy how the patent offices of each country will respond to this decision.