| A Governmental commission, headed personally by | | | | Enforcement Practice |
| the Prime Minister has been created in Russia recently | | | | On July, 1, 2002 the new Administrative Violations |
| in order to counteract the infringements in the sphere | | | | Code (AVC) of the Russian Federation came into |
| of intellectual property. As he stated earlier, little is done | | | | effect which stipulates administrative responsibility for |
| for the protection of intellectual property rights in | | | | copyright infringement and illegal use of trade marks. |
| Russia and, therefore, both the rights owners and the | | | | The procedural part of the Code states that customs |
| state are actually robed. Are there any changes today | | | | bodies have the right to file reports of the |
| in this area? What contribution has customs service | | | | above-stated intellectual property rights infringements |
| made in order to protect business intellectual property | | | | discovered during customs control. |
| rights? How can the consumers be sure that when | | | | The reports, filed by customs bodies serve as a legal |
| buying medicines, products or clothes of known | | | | ground for court judgments imposing administrative |
| manufacturers they will get the goods that they | | | | penalties and fines and/or confiscation of the imported |
| expect? | | | | goods that violate copyright or other intellectual |
| It is certain that the problem has not been solved | | | | property rights or trade marks. |
| instantly. Today Russia suffers severe economic | | | | The state bodies conducted the analysis of the trade |
| damage caused by the infringements of the author's | | | | mark protection enforcement practice. The conducted |
| and adjoining rights, misuses of inventions, trade marks, | | | | study resulted in the development of guidelines and |
| from uncollected tax revenues, and from the | | | | recommendations for the customs bodies on revealing |
| impossibility to increase national economic production | | | | and punishing offences connected to illegal use of |
| of goods because of unfair competition. | | | | trade marks. Those guidelines define the actions and |
| Counterfeit aviation and automobile spare parts, fake | | | | serve as the legal ground for customs bodies actions |
| combustive-lubricating materials, toys, medical | | | | and are based on concrete examples. |
| equipment and pharmaceuticals, food are frequently | | | | Customs bodies of foreign states control from several |
| dangerous to health and life of the population, and | | | | thousand up to several tens of thousand of trade |
| pose real threat to national safety of this country. | | | | marks. The customs bodies of Russia, according to |
| Starting Point | | | | the information of legal rights owners, control about |
| A legal base of interaction between customs bodies | | | | 450 trade marks which are filed with the intellectual |
| with other law-enforcement and control organs has | | | | property register of the State Customs Committee of |
| been created in Russia; Rospatent, a State body | | | | Russia. |
| which acts as federal enforcement authority in the | | | | The next step is to develop methodical |
| field of intellectual property protection is now a part of | | | | recommendations concerning the owner's legal and |
| the team. | | | | adjoining rights. |
| Joint actions are carried out according to the guidelines | | | | The analysis of court judgments shows that there is |
| of interdepartmental recommendations and measures, | | | | an urgent need to review the current judicial practice |
| aimed at ensuring intellectual property protection, that | | | | and submit it for consideration to the Supreme |
| have been developed and approved by the Ministry of | | | | Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. |
| Internal Affairs, by the State Customs Committee, and | | | | It is necessary to note, that the first enforcement |
| by Federal Tax Police Service and coordinated with | | | | practice results have shown the necessity to update |
| the State Office of the Public Prosecutor of Russia. | | | | the administrative violations legislation. In particular, it is |
| Multiple changes and modifications to the legislation, | | | | required to add to the Code the regulations on |
| regulating intellectual property protection have been | | | | conducting investigations with the purpose of their |
| adopted. They helped define customs and state | | | | qualitative pre-trial study and add legal permission to |
| regulations of the foreign trade activity, administrative | | | | conduct the necessary examinations. |
| infringements, and the criminal legislation. | | | | It would be expedient to increase the impeachment |
| Suspicion of Illegal Trafficking | | | | timeframe, as law breakers, in some cases, delay |
| The legitimate rights owner who has reasonable | | | | proceedings by every possible means, and go |
| grounds to believe that his intellectual property rights | | | | unpunished because of the impossibility to impeach |
| could be infringed during customs clearance through | | | | them just two months after the date of the offence. |
| the border of Russia can file a complaint with the | | | | The "Greys" Consolidate |
| State Customs Committee (SCC) of Russia and | | | | A tendency disturbing enough surfaced recently and is |
| request the protection of his rights. The efficiency of | | | | connected to "grey" importers joining efforts to |
| this protection directly depends on the completeness | | | | counteract the measures adopted by the State |
| of the information submitted by the legal owner who | | | | Customs Committee of Russia and by customs |
| can assist customs bodies in counterfeit products | | | | bodies. The given counteraction is carried out as in the |
| identification. Such data can include information on the | | | | legal field (disputing in due order the requirements of |
| places of import and customs registration of legal | | | | normative legal acts, appealing the actions of customs |
| production, information on exporters, importers of legal | | | | bodies and their officials), as with the use of financial |
| production, on distinctive signs of counterfeit goods, etc. | | | | and administrative resources. |
| After consideration of application and, if required, after | | | | The New Code - The New Opportunities |
| additional verification of the stated information, the | | | | Starting January, 1, 2004, when a shipment of products |
| documents issued by the State Customs Committee | | | | is suspected to be counterfeit, the customs bodies are |
| of Russia and the corresponding information are filed | | | | given the right to detain the goods or delay the release |
| with the supervising customs bodies of Russia. | | | | of the goods containing objects of intellectual property |
| As practice shows, the infringements of the intellectual | | | | for up to 20 days, and to inform the legal owner as |
| property rights are quite often accompanied by | | | | well as a number of other rights. |
| violations of customs rules. The examples of such are: | | | | The turn-over of the counterfeit goods will |
| import of a cargo, for example, claimed to be used for | | | | considerably decline in case of the intellectual property |
| non-commercial purposes, falsified documentation and | | | | legislation control at all stages of the foreign economic |
| customs declarations, undeclared or falsely declared | | | | transaction, starting with the signing of the contract and |
| products, as well as other infringements for which | | | | followed by customs registration. |
| administrative responsibility is stipulated by the law. | | | | |