IP is protected by many laws, not only by a package of specific
legislation such as patent law, trademark law, etc. In Russia,
those laws are bound in one book: "Part IV of the Civil
Code". Several other laws also include isolated provisions
dedicated to IP.
One might think that the rights of IP owners are tightly
protected. Not always so. Practice shows that infringers are no
less inventive than inventors themselves. As soon as a law or a
regulation is enacted, unscrupulous people begin searching for the
ways to go around a patent or a trademark.
Understandably, they are interested in patents and trademarks
that carry good marketing potential. In patents, they look for the
flaws in the claims allowing them to formally stay within the
bounds of the law. In trademarks, they invent designations that may
seem similar to the protected trademarks. It is true that, in many
cases, justice can be sought and restored—however, that
involves expense in terms of effort, time
