Copyright and related rights are also protected by the articles of the Civil Code. In addition, the copyright protection methods provided in this document can be applied not only at the request of the authors or copyright holders, but also of other persons. There is also criminal liability for copyright infringement, in the form of punishment, a fine is provided.
All of the above legal acts have been repeatedly amended, but judging by what we have today, they turned out to be ineffective. It would seem that the republic has everything necessary for authors to work in peace, without fear that someone will illegally use their work. However, in reality, everything is much more complicated.
Kyrgyzstan’s intellectual property system is in critical condition. This conclusion can be drawn based on the conclusion of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which conducted a study in 2021.
According to the conclusions of the organization’s specialists, Kyrgyzstan took 98th place out of 132 in the global innovation index, and the country’s position according to the index “Results of creative activity” was 120th. The WIPO report indicates that intellectual property indicators in the Kyrgyz Republic show a steady and, in some areas, irreversible decline.
Thus, between 2015 and 2018, from 114 to 146 invention patents were granted in the republic. In 2019-21, their number fell to 64-93, an average of 25%. Moreover, the number of active patents, according to the international organization, is continuously decreasing – from 375 in 2014 to 193 in 2020.
Naturally, such a trend not only has a detrimental effect on the development of the economy of the republic, but also creates risks of exodus of talents, companies and their intellectual property.
The current situation gives rise to the drafting of a bill on intellectual rights, the author of which is a group of parliamentarians. While working on the document, we pursued several objectives. First, carry out an early and comprehensive modernization of the entire intellectual property system, second, reduce the costs of enterprises in the creative and innovative sector of the economy and government bodies, and third, transfer most transactions with rights intellectual property in digital format.
What will our inventors gain from the adoption of an intellectual property law? Take, for example, the digitization of transactions. First, it will bring out of the shadows the main asset of the economy – intellectual property. Specialists will not go abroad, taking with them their knowledge and achievements. In addition, the likelihood that young scientists will start coming to us is increasing.
The creation of a digital infrastructure for the voluntary recording of all the results of intellectual and creative activity will help eradicate corruption in this area.
The work of this format will be carried out by a patent rights operator, who performs technical functions of organizing examinations in the field of industrial intellectual property, and a fair remuneration operator, who ensures that the figure of rights and guarantees for the monetization of the intellectual property of rightsholders are taken into account. Thus, we will ensure a fair balance of the interests of entrepreneurs and authors whose creative work has created the intellectual property.
A significant extension of the powers of the State Agency for Intellectual Property under the Council of Ministers is also envisaged. A special department will be created on the basis of the state agency. Its functions will include the normative regulation of all formal procedures for voluntary and compulsory registration of copyright, related patent law and means of individualization.
The agency itself will oversee the activities of operators and digital infrastructures, as well as international interaction and the conclusion of all necessary agreements on the exchange of intellectual property data. The presence of this function is important for the export of creative and innovative products of Kyrgyz entrepreneurs.
We also believe that a significant and systemic effect of the adoption and implementation of the law on intellectual property rights will be achieved by eliminating loopholes in the regulation of intellectual property rights and by including all types and kinds of results of intellectual and creative labor in the circulation economy.
The main indicator of the work of the law, as we assume, will be the growth in the number of objects of national intellectual property, their emergence from the shadows. The transition to digital will allow by 2027, according to financial analysts, to provide significant tax revenues to the country’s budget.
Help “RG”
In accordance with Article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic (“Violation of copyright, neighboring rights and rights of patent owners”), the illegal use of copyright objects, rights neighbors, licensed software and information systems, as well as the acquisition, storage, circulation or production of infringing copies of works, phonograms, licensed software and information systems for of sale, as well as the illegal use of an invention, a utility model or an industrial design or model, the disclosure without the consent of the author or applicant of the essence of the invention , utility model or industrial design or model before the official publication of information concerning them, if these acts are committed with significant damage or with the aim of generating income on a large scale, are punishable by a fine of 20 at 50 thousand soms.
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