In May 2016, the leaders of Russia and Japan met in Sochi, where the Japanese side presented an eight-point economic cooperation plan. The plan included cooperation with the Russian Far East through trade and exports, stronger interaction between small and medium-sized businesses, and support for the development of new technologies.
The Russian Government expressed its intention to expand economic cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and to promote more active development of the Russian Far East. The Japanese leader also expressed Japan's willingness to cooperate in these areas.
Japanese companies may subsequently increase their investment in industries in the Russian Far East. However, the establishment of an effective intellectual property infrastructure is an important prerequisite for such investment.
Against this background, a study group was formed to examine the intellectual property system in the Russian Far East. It consisted of patent attorneys, lawyers and representatives of industrial companies responsible for intellectual property matters.
In September of that year, the group visited Vladivostok and held meetings and exchanged views with senior officials involved in intellectual property protection in the Far East. The group also obtained information about the operation of the intellectual property system.
The meetings and discussions were attended by Ms Emoto, an officer of the Intellectual Property Protection Division of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as representatives of the Japanese Consulate based in Russia: Consul Takayanagi, Vice-Consul Ifuji and Mr Kawara, Head of the Japan Centre in Vladivostok.
Seizure of Counterfeit Goods by Customs Authorities
A large volume of goods is imported into the Russian Far East through the port of Vladivostok from China, South Korea, Japan and other countries. Many of these goods are counterfeit, which has become a serious problem.
Counterfeit goods that evade detection by the Far Eastern Customs authorities subsequently enter circulation and spread throughout the country. It is therefore essential that Customs identify and seize all imported counterfeit goods.
We held discussions with representatives of the customs authorities. Russia operates the following system for protecting exclusive intellectual property rights: once a trade mark is recorded with the central customs authority in Moscow, customs offices throughout the country, including in the Far East, suspend the importation of any goods suspected of infringing exclusive rights and notify the rights holder of their arrival.
We learned that, in 2015, approximately 11% of all administrative cases of this kind in Russia were initiated by customs authorities in the Far East. The seized counterfeit goods were destroyed.
During the discussions, it became clear that most counterfeit goods arrived from China and primarily included automotive spare parts, children's toys, clothing, cosmetics and other products.
Customs representatives also explained the specific methods used to inspect goods and identify counterfeits, described the information required for effective inspections and confirmed the importance of cooperation with rights holders. According to the representatives, measures were also being implemented to detect counterfeit goods arriving by sea.
Detection of Counterfeit Goods in Markets
Where counterfeit goods are sold in markets, measures to identify them may be taken by the police or the antimonopoly authorities.
We met with Ms Mezhevaya and other representatives of the Primorsky Territory Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service is an administrative authority responsible for protecting competition, supervising competition in the market and preventing unfair competition. Russia has 84 regional offices of the Service. They have sufficient powers to impose administrative penalties independently for the sale of goods infringing intellectual property rights and for acts of unfair competition.
We were informed that the Federal Antimonopoly Service had previously imposed administrative penalties in such cases. Its regional office in the Far East therefore has enforcement mechanisms available to combat intellectual property infringements.

Court Hearing
In Russia, in addition to civil claims, customs inspections and the detection of counterfeit goods by the police, administrative proceedings must be initiated before a court in order to destroy seized goods.
To understand how such proceedings are conducted, we attended an actual hearing before an appellate court in Vladivostok. In a formal and serious atmosphere, we observed the judges conduct the hearing relatively quickly.
In Russia, major court decisions may sometimes take approximately six months, which is somewhat slower than in certain other countries.
At the same time, the Intellectual Property Court operates in Moscow and specialises in intellectual property disputes. It can therefore be said that the system for resolving intellectual property cases is gradually developing.

Prospects for Cooperation with Japan
The meeting between leading Russian and Japanese intellectual property specialists took place in a friendly atmosphere. Further development of relations with intellectual property professionals in Japan is planned.
The customs and antimonopoly authorities also published information and photographs from our meeting on their websites.
In addition, after the court hearing, we were permitted to take a commemorative photograph with the judges in the courtroom.
International Trade, the newspaper of the Japan Association for Trade with Russia and the Newly Independent States
Masashi Kurose
22 November 2016