Russian Patent Law
In 1993, the Russian patent laws were revised. The revisions tightened the definition of what a patentable invention was and how it could be applied. It also, importantly, laid out what can and cannot be patented, and what constitutes a patent violation.
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Definitions
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A patent is considered a “technical solution” related to either a product or process. The invention to be patented must be new, inventive, and applicable to some area of industry or science. The official concept of a patentable invention is if it “defines its own outward appearance.” That means a patentable invention cannot be a minor change to a product or process, but must be a mechanism in itself that assists in it. An invention is considered “new and inventive” if the invention itself determines the nature of the specific aspects of the article.
Features
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Things that are not physical (such as ideas or theories) cannot be patented. Neither can anything that is contrary to the public interest or public morality. The Russian law makes it clear that any invention that is based on the regular functioning of an already existing product is nonpatentable. It must be a product (or process) in and of itself, with its own “essence.”
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Conditions
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If a worker invents a patentable item on company time, the company gets all rights to the patent, unless a previous agreement stipulates otherwise. If a firm is working for the Russian government, and the firm develops something new, then the firm, not the government, maintains the rights to the patent.
Violations
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A violation of patent cannot be incidental. It must be beyond the realm of coincidence that actual copying took place. A patent cannot be violated, for example, if the process itself can be found in the product, such as certain new chemical compounds that are easily identifiable. If a competing product copies all the steps in the process beyond the realm of coincidence, then that counts as a violation. It must “contain all essential features” of the product or process to be a violation. Goods that are imported from abroad, using a similar process, are not in violation of the Russian patent. A simple rule to follow is that if a patent can be easily seen and identified by the person using the product, and it is then copied (at least in some respects), it is not a violation. This would not be the case with a medication because one cannot easily see the chemical compound or its activity. But it would be the case with something simple, such as a new design for a bicycle chain.
Usability
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If a patent is not used by its developer within three years of its patent, then others can sue for the use of the patent. A judge will then decide on the amount of the license fees for the competing firm or person. If one patent, in its normal use, involves a violation of another patent, the courts can be used to determine license fees, and who must pay to whom. This would be a compulsory license in that one patent cannot permit another to be issued if the overlap is not intentional.
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References
- Photo Credit Russian symbol image by Yulaki Khvenchuk from Fotolia.com
