Russian IP Status: Adequate, But Flawed For Pharma

Russia officially joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in August 2012, but it’s too early to gauge a direct impact from that event. Except for a reduction of the Russian Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) official fees for foreign companies, the WTO entry “had virtually no effect on the prosecution process,” says Oliver Henrion, a patent attorney in the German offices of Zellentin & Partners GBR. His firm services ChemRar High Tech Center, the Russian-US investment and research group, which is active in technology-transfer arrangements with foreign companies. (SeeAlso see "Priming Russia’s Pharma Industry For Innovation" - In Vivo, 17 May, 2013..)

Historically, IP legislation was rudimentary, but in recent years, Russia has adopted a series of intellectual property (IP) reforms that...