JETRO Seminar on IP

On 3 March 2006, CIPR conducted a seminar on IP for Japanese companies at the request of Japan External Trade Relations Organization (JETRO), a Japanese government-related organization that promotes mutually beneficial trade and investment relations. The 3-hour seminar covered commonly encountered problems related to intellectual property rights in Russia, including counterfeiting, bad-faith trademark registrations and corruption. The seminar focused on practical measures in which a company can both prevent and fight counterfeits of their products and how to protest bad-faith trademark registrations. In addition, the seminar participants received advice on how to establish working relationships with the authorities, who to contact in certain cases and how to participate in the IPR community.

Japanese companies are becoming increasingly active in Russia. In 2004, Japan’s exports to Russia increased 90%, with another 40% increase experienced in 2005. As Japanese companies enter the Russian market and expand their activities, issues relating to protecting their intellectual property rights are becoming increasingly important. In light of this, JETRO organized a series of seminars for Japanese companies on IPR issues.