埼玉英語会 英検１級・準１級　コミュのRussian businesses can steal patents from anyone in ‘unfriendly’ countries

Russia has effectively legalized patent theft from anyone affiliated with countries
“unfriendly” to it, declaring that unauthorized use will not be compensated.

The decree, issued this week, illustrates the economic war waged around Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, as the West levies sanctions and pulls away from Russia’s huge
oil and gas industry. Russian officials have also raised the possibility of lifting
restrictions on some trademarks, according to state media, which could allow
continued use of brands such as McDonald’s that are withdrawing from Russia
in droves.

The effect of losing patent protections will vary by company, experts say, depending
on whether they have a valuable patent in Russia. The U.S. government has long
warned of intellectual property rights violations in the country; last year Russia was
among nine nations on a “priority watch list” for alleged failures to protect
intellectual property. Now Russian entities could not be sued for damages
if they use certain patents without permission.

The patent decree and any further lifting of intellectual property protections could
affect Western investment in Russia well beyond any de-escalation of the war
in Ukraine, said Josh Gerben, an intellectual property lawyer in Washington.
Firms that already saw risks in Russian business would have more reason to worry.

“It’s just another example of how [Putin] has forever changed the relationship
that Russia will have with the world,” Gerben said.

Russia’s decree removes protections for patent holders who are registered in hostile
countries, do business in them or hold their nationality.

The Kremlin has not issued any decree lifting protections on trademarks.
But Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said last week that authorities are
considering “removing restrictions on the use of intellectual property contained
in certain goods whose supply to Russia is restricted,” according to Russian state
news outlet Tass, and that potential measures could affect inventions,
computer programs and trademarks.

The ministry said the measures would “mitigate the impact on the market of supply
chain breaks, as well as shortages of goods and services that have arisen
due to the new sanctions of western countries,” Tass stated.

Gerben said a similar decree on trademarks would pave the way for
Russian companies to exploit American brand names that have halted
their business in Russia.
He gave a hypothetical involving McDonald’s, one of the latest global giants
to suspend operations in Russia under public pressure.

McDonald’s said Tuesday that it would temporarily close its 850 restaurants in Russia,
a significant decision for a company that gets 9 percent of its revenue from Russia
and Ukraine. Without trademark protections, Russia could “take those McDonald’s
that got shut down and … just let local operators operate the restaurants and cal
l them McDonald’s,” Gerben said.

Russia’s removal of intellectual property protections during wartime is not without
precedent. Smithsonian Magazine describes how the German company Bayer lost
its American patent on aspirin as the U.S. government seized property from firms
associated with its enemies.