Russian Government to Crack Down on Intellectual Property Rights Violations

The Russian government must get what is going on in the area of intellectual property rights protection under control. Federal Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said this as addressing the maiden meeting of the governmental commission for countering intellectual property rights violations.

"This sphere is still in a state of complete chaos and lawlessness," said the premier.

Intellectual property is a factor crucial, among other things, for the country's economic development-the cabinet's main mid-term objective, emphasised Mr Kasyanov.

Intellectual property must lie on a solid legal basis, he added. It is not clear on which legal terms inventions of past years are being employed in the country today.

"Things are still worse as far as the application of related laws is concerned," said the premier. Intellectual property authors are not interested in creating intellectual resources, he added.

The effective intellectual property protection arrangements do not work or work poorly, he pointed out.

To make the related laws clearer is what should be done in the first instance to facilitate the law-enforcers' work, believes the premier.

The commission and an expert council of the press ministry have been instructed to study any proposals whatsoever that can help improve the situation, added the premier.

Mr Kasyanov said the problem had received little attention since the outset of free market reform in Russia.