Technology Transfer from Russia - Opportunities and Challenges.

The former Soviet technology transfer and licensing monopoly, Licensintorg, lost its grip on transactions and, eventually, lost out to private initiatives altogether. Today, most institutes and research organizations now boast their own patent office. In one recent fiscal quarter, a single foreign intellectual property law firm operating in Moscow reported filing over 400 licenses directly with Russian organizations.

The intellectual foundation supporting Russian innovation, while having fewer resources than when the state was involved in technology ownership, remains in place and encourages collaboration. Lab facilities are a mixed in their level of current capability, with the most prestigious organizations enjoying the use of current technologies.  Several GMP labs are now under construction thanks to foreign government credits. Such is the case at the sprawling Bakulev Institute of Cardiology where in Oct 1998Russia’s first pacemakers were produced that incorporated primarily Russian components.

Certainly there remain many obstacles to identifying and securing novel Russian technologies. For example, since all patent activities were previously controlled by the feds, knowledge of basic intellectual property laws has been scant, but is clearly improving with time thanks to the efforts of firms such as SoyuzPatent (www.soyuzpatent.com), Russia’s largest intellectual property law firm. For example, it is not uncommon to be offered an interesting technology protected only by a four year old Russian patent or a two year old abandoned US application.

These situations preclude the opportunity of obtaining international protection for an invention, and in fact obviate the need for negotiating with that inventor at all since the idea is likely in the public domain. So it is essential to work with a Russian research group from the outset (i.e., pre-patent stage of development) to implement a sound intellectual property strategy of investment stature. As knowledge of patent law spreads, so too does the opportunity to collaborate with capable scientists who know where you are coming from. The level of technical disclosure, often another barrier encountered, is likewise improving and quite frankly is an issue too often taken for granted in the due diligence phase by prospective licensees coming from North America. In these cases, an intermediary with experience dealing in the Russian market environment can more fully evaluate and expedite technology transactions that present win-win scenarios.