IPR Toolkit

Welcome Letter by Ambassador Burns

I am pleased to welcome you to U.S. Embassy Moscow's web-based Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Toolkit, designed to assist the business community in better understanding IPR protection in Russia. The Toolkit contains materials describing the scope of the IPR issue in Russia, links to relevant legislation and other resources, suggestions regarding what American companies can do to protect their IPR, as well as steps rightsholders should consider after an infringement comes to their attention.

While Russian IPR legislation has improved considerably in recent years and the Russian government has become increasingly engaged in this important issue, the Russian government still faces serious challenges in the area of enforcement. We engage on a wide range of issues, including the benefits of more effectively enforcing legislation through increased penalties, lowering the threshold for criminalization, improving the effectiveness of law enforcement and fixing remaining shortcomings in IPR legislation.

We are also committed to helping Russian authorities to improve their effectiveness. A good example is the IPR enforcement workshops that the Embassy, working with Federal Service for Patents, Trademarks and Intellectual Property (Rospatent), has held over the past two years for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges, in each of the seven presidential regions. In addition, the Embassy is now organizing training programs with the Russian Customs Service.

Improvement of IPR protection is a high priority for the United States Government and Embassy Moscow, and we stand ready to assist you in any way that we can.

With kind regards,

William J. Burns
Ambassador

IPR Toolkit Index

• Overview



• Copyright



• Patents



• Trademarks



• Enforcement Options



• Market-Entry Planning

The information provided in this section by no means constitutes legal advice and should not be a substitute for advice of counsel. Its intended purpose is to provide an overview of Russia's IPR environment, available enforcement mechanisms and Russian government offices sharing IPR jurisdiction. We recommend that U.S. companies seeking to do business in Russia, or facing IPR infringement issues, retain qualified U.S. and/or Russian legal counsel and pursue their rights through Russia's IPR enforcement regime.

If you have any questions about IPR issues in Russia, or information you would like to share with the Embassy, please send us an e-mail to MoscowIPR@state.gov.

Reference Materials

• American Chamber of Commerce in Russia
• U.S.-Russia Business Council

United States Government Links:

• Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
• Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Department of Justice, Computer Crime and IP Section
• DHS/Customs and Border Protection
• Copyright Office, Library of Congress
• IPR Protection, U.S. State Department

Industry Links:

• Copyright: International Intellectual Property Alliance
• Trademark: International Trademark Association
• Motion Picture Association of America — MPA Abroad
• Recording Industry Association of America — IFPI/Recording Industry Association Abroad
• Business Software Alliance
• Entertainment Software Association
• Association of American Publishers

Pharmaceutical Issues:

• Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America

Enforcement Issues:

• International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce

International Organizations:

• World Trade Organization, resource on TRIPS
• World Intellectual Property Organization