Specialists discussed IP issues on food products
The panel on Intellectual Property for Food Products was held as part of the Prodexpo 2024 international exhibition. The event was organised by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Intellectual Property Council of Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and EXPOCENTRE AO.
The panel was moderated by Ruslan Malkov, Deputy Chairman of the Intellectual Property Council of CCI of Russia, Head of the Working Group on Assistance to Business in the Development of Intellectual Property in Regions, Director General at Galifanov, Malkov & Partners.
He noted, in particular, that intellectual property has become very firmly embedded in everyday life. “Often we imagine IP in the form of high technology, space achievements, in the automotive industry or in electronic gadgets. But in fact, intellectual property is much closer to us and is with us every day,” the speaker said.
The panel participants shared their knowledge on IP protection for food products, experience in fighting counterfeiting and building a strategy in the conditions of parallel imports.
Dmitry Fadeev, Chairman of the CCI of Russia Council on Intellectual Property, emphasised that the topic of the panel was hot. He took the opportunity to invite the participants in the event and all interested colleagues to take part in the 16th Forum on Intellectual Property, which will be held from April 23 to 24 at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Alexander Borisov, Chairman of the CCI of Russia Council on Development of Consumer Market emphasised, “There are 860,000 trademarks registered with Rospatent. Of these, 490,000 are Russian trademarks owned by individuals and legal entities. The problem is aggravated by the fact that in 2022, 14,000 trademark categories were out of circulation. But 13,000 Russian trademarks reappeared on the market. The second topic, according to the speaker, is the growing volume of own trademarks promoted by retail chains. The main problem is that entrepreneurs themselves do not use technological, administrative and legislative norms that allow them to maintain the protection of their own trademarks. And in doing so, they lose not only part of their profit, but also part of the market”.
“We all come across brands on a daily basis. And we know which brand is good and which is bad. But a brand is more of an economic and marketing category. From the point of view of legislation, it is a trademark. Geographical indications, appellation of origin of goods are also capable of individualising, distinguishing the goods of producers, providing goods of the best quality for their customers. Patents for inventions and industrial designs for companies working with food products come to the rescue. The health, well-being and longevity of the country’s population depends on the consumption of quality products,” said Ruslan Malkov.
The Federal Customs Service is at the forefront of the fight against counterfeit goods. Alexander Shirkhanov, Head of the Department for Ensuring Control of Goods Containing IP Objects, Department of Trade Restrictions, Currency and Export Control the Federal Customs Service of Russia, took part in the panel. He spoke in detail about how customs officers prevent the importation of counterfeit goods into the territory of Russia.
Tatyana Zybleva, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Customs Control after the Release of Goods of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, spoke about the goods labelling system as a tool to combat counterfeiting.
Olga Shanaeva, Deputy Head of the Russian Quality System, shared how to protect consumers from counterfeit and detect counterfeit especially under conditions of parallel import.
Olga Tereshchenko, Vice-Rector of the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property, spoke about how to properly form a trademark portfolio and what peculiarities exist in relation to food products.
Tatyana Zmeevskaya, Head of Personalisation Division of the Department for Organisation of Provision of State Services of Rospatent, devoted her presentation to the protection of manufacturers’ interests by the institute of regional brands.
Elena Suslova-Novozhilova, Chair at the Commission for Entrepreneurship in the sphere of production and turnover of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products of the Council of CCI of Russia for the development of the consumer market, Director General at the Committee of Alcoholic Products Producers Association, spoke about how alcoholic products are controlled in the parallel import regime.
Mariya Rogozhina, Head of the Licence Market Bulletin project, made a presentation on the lease of IP rights for clearance of goods and the fight against counterfeiting in the field of IP lease in the conditions of parallel import.
The event was attended by manufacturers-importers, suppliers, marketplace sellers, lawyers and so on.
Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO