Retailers call for action against patent trolling

The Association of Electronic Commerce Representatives has asked the Federal Antimonopoly Service to initiate a discussion on "patent trolling" and consolidate this concept. "Patent trolling" refers to situations where unscrupulous entrepreneurs register Russian or foreign trademarks and patents for goods that do not have a copyright holder in Russia and make claims to sellers.

"Patent trolls," according to Kirill Nikitin, head of the Vegas Lex directorate, take advantage of the possibility of mass registration. Their ambitions are now limited only by the cost of the procedure, and now the number of cases of "patent trolling" is increasing in proportion to the development of the e-commerce market.

APET in its appeal asks to provide sellers with the opportunity to appeal the actions of the "trolls" to the Federal Antimonopoly Service without stopping sales. To combat the phenomenon, the organization proposes to amend the laws on protection of competition and provide for the possibility to revoke the rights to trademarks and patents obtained with established violations.

At the same time, according to experts, it is often difficult to separate bona fide market participants from unscrupulous ones, and strict regulatory measures may be excessive.

Patent attorney Sergey Zuykov basically calls the scale of the problem of "patent trolling" far-fetched. Globally, according to the expert, it is based on the fact that many companies want to do business without registering their own rights: "The easiest way to counter such piracy is to have their own patent or trademark." By abandoning this practice, entrepreneurs, according to him, consciously assume risks.

Source: Kommersant