New head of Rospatent hired in Russia

Russia’s intellectual property office Rospatent has appointed Grigory Ivliyev as its new head.

Before joining the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, also known as Rospatent, Ivliyev worked at the Ministry of Culture.

His appointment comes just one year after Boris Sominov was dismissed from the role after 11 years in office.

According to a blog by Andrey Cherkasov, attorney at law firm Rouse in Moscow, there are claims that Rospatent’s role will be expanded to include some areas of copyright that are currently overseen by the ministry.

At the moment Rospatent primarily focuses on patent and trademarks but does deal with some areas of copyright in relation to computer programs and integrated chips.

Eugene Arievich, partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie, told WIPR that he welcomed the appointment.

"The IP community in Russia sighed with relief when it learnt about the appointment, since Ivliyev appeared to be the most desirable of all the potential candidates to the post and, unlike his predecessors in the position, he is a professional lawyer who graduated from a prestigious law school, taught law and held a number of important positions requiring legal skills."

There are some concerns that given his background Ivliyev will favour a copyright agenda over more traditional IP-related work, such as patents and trademarks, Arievich added.

He continued: "It is expected that Rospatent under Ivliyev's leadership will not limit its activity to supervision in the copyright and neighbouring rights sphere but will directly exercise regulatory functions related inter alia to collective management of copyright and neighbouring rights."