The provisions on the use and protection of intellectual property were recently adopted. The Russian Civil Code was supplemented by the fourth part, which enshrines the rules on intangible relations. This article will discuss the disposal of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity, as well as the moral right itself.
The concept of intellectual property
What is intellectual property? The answer to this question is given by Part 4 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In a broad sense, this refers to personal rights of a non-property nature. The law establishes specific results of intellectual activity or means of individualization.
The very concept of "intellectual property" has been used in society for a long time. It came into widespread use only in the middle of the 20th century, when the Stockholm Convention on the Organization of Intellectual Property of 1967 was signed. What can relate to such property? As a rule, this is some information or a collection of information. For example, literature, scientific works, trademarks, industrial designs, inventions and much more. All that may result from mental activity can be registered as a subject of intellectual law.
The owner of the right in question is the author of the work or a person who has previously acquired the rights to the work. The author may restrict access to the result of his intellectual activity. In this case, we will talk about the exclusive right.
Exclusive Right: General Description
Exclusive right is the possession of a specific result of an intellectual activity. The copyright holder has the ability to perform certain actions in relation to the object. Thus, the interests of the citizen are satisfied.
What does article 1229 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation say? The law refers to the disposal of exclusive rights. A legal entity or a specific citizen is able to dispose of the result of intellectual activity in any way that does not contradict the current legislation. At the same time, the right holder sets the limits of use: it is he who forbids or allows third parties to use the means of their individualization. Is the absence of a ban in this case a permit? According to the Code, no. The disposal of exclusive rights without direct and documented consent will be illegal.
Exclusion of exclusive rights
It is necessary to pay attention to article 1233 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which states the content of the exclusive right. According to the law, such a right can be limited both by the copyright holder and automatically by law. In the case of the latter provision, a number of cases must be pointed out.
The establishment of a complete ban on an exclusive right is the first limiter. We are talking about trademarks, company names, location, etc. All of these elements cannot be used regardless of the consent of the copyright holder. The only option for transferring them to another person is sale or gift.It is worth paying attention to article 1539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the impossibility of transmitting only one commercial designation. This element should be an integral part of the relevant subject (for example, enterprise).
The next component is the inability to dispose of the exclusive right due to the illegal nature of such a right. Such a restriction may refer to the exact conditions that determine the validity of transactions. In addition, no industry or sub-industry of law should be contrary to the basic state regulations.
Types of exclusive rights
The law establishes a number of legal forms of disposition of exclusive rights. According to paragraph 1 of Article 1233, the authority of the copyright holder includes the establishment of a common disposal system. So, non-contractual forms of disposal may exist. This is a universal succession - a phenomenon in which an exclusive right can be transferred without concluding a special contract. Here it is worth highlighting the refusal to exercise the right under Article 9 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to the law, the refusal of the order itself will already be part of the order.
The contractual method often establishes a limited circle of people who are entitled to use the results of intellectual activity. Accordingly, a number of prohibitions are also fixed for third parties.
An exclusive right order may be implemented in several forms. It is worth mentioning, for example, a pledge agreement, rent, trust management and much more. In the case of intellectual law, these will be names, ideas, trademarks, etc. If several persons are the creators of the result of intellectual activity, then they may well have the status of co-authors. A joint disposition of an exclusive right may also be characteristic of inheritance, conclusion of an agreement, etc.
Exclusion of exclusive right
Article 1234 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation addresses the alienation of exclusive rights. A special agreement may be concluded, according to which one party (copyright holder) will transfer the right to the other party (legal owner or acquirer). Such an agreement must be in writing and registered. The alienation agreement may be in the nature of a gift and a purchase. In the case of a purchase, the acquirer agrees to transfer the remuneration specified in the contract to the copyright holder. The fee may take the form of a percentage of revenue, fixed or recurring payments. In case of violation of the contract, violation of the exclusive right also occurs. If one of the parties has not fulfilled its obligations, then the court must pay damages to the injured person.
Another case of alienation of exclusive right may be related to non-compliance of the concluded contract with the norms of the law. The transfer document must be completed in strict accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. Otherwise, the person who has registered the contract will be charged. This is stated in Art. 1233 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Types of Intellectual Law
It is worth returning to the very concept of intellectual law. What forms can it be divided into? The fourth part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation lists the main types of the considered group of legal relations.
Copyright is the first and most common group. Any relations related to art, literature, science and other fields of activity are the basis of copyright. The main subject of authorship is a work - the result of creative activity. Copyright may not apply to everything. Ideas, methods, methods, principles, discoveries, facts and many other major phenomena act as the public domain or the subject of another group of rights.That is why they can not be attributed to copyright.
The next group is related to related rights. Distinguishing related rights from copyright is quite problematic. Their main feature is an insufficient level of creativity. Related rights may extend to producers of phonograms, broadcasting organizations, and even to the authors of the work themselves.
Patent law is associated with the results of scientific and inventive activity. A special protection order is assigned to utility models, inventions, industrial designs, and much more.
There are also breeding rights (for plant varieties), rights to know-how (knowledge and skills), to means of individualization (designations, names) and much more.
Why is intellectual property necessary?
Specialists in the field of law provided a lot of justification for the very existence of such a thing as "intellectual property". Why is it necessary to divide relations into property and non-property groups? The answer is given by international law. The same Stockholm Convention refers to the desire to provide the creators with an official vocation, to promote the growth of national industry, trade, culture, etc.
In the Russian Federation, international law is recognized legally higher than domestic. For a long time there was no specific law in the country where personal non-property relations could be regulated. However, in 2008, the Federal Law was adopted, according to which a fourth part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation appeared. This whole volume is entirely devoted to intellectual law.
Thus, in Russia, the legal field under consideration appeared due to the rule of the Constitution, according to which international law is given priority. However, agreements with the world community are far from the only reason for the legal consolidation of non-property relations. The regulation of the use of intellectual property itself plays a rather large role in any developed state.
Intellectual Property Goals
In the regulation of norms in the field of intellectual property, much attention was paid to the goals of non-property rights. All the currently existing tasks of the considered sphere of legal relations can be classified into different groups.
Achieving financial benefits to copyright holders is the first goal. To benefit from intellectual property is necessary to financially stimulate the copyright holder. For other citizens, cases of such incentives will serve as a motivation to create something socially useful.
The economic growth of the state also depends on the level of development of moral rights. A large number of experts have long confirmed that the protection of intellectual property rights is especially important for maintaining welfare in the state. Legal ways must be created to express the economic rights of authors to their works.
The last group of goals is related to morality. In this case, the usual pragmatic arguments prevail. Thus, the state’s protection of the results of intellectual activity means the promotion of any form of creation and distribution of new public goods.
Intellectual Property Violations
The state is obliged to protect any registered results of intellectual activity of people. However, the very fact of the existence of a protection norm does not at all preclude the many violations that can be committed today. It is necessary to pay attention to the following illegal acts:
- the import into the country of counterfeit products;
- plagiarism and piracy - the implementation of basic copyright violations;
- the implementation of any actions that may be directed to bypass the current protection of related or copyright rights;
- distribution of objects containing the methods described in patents;
- violation of the contract of exclusive right in the field of non-property relations;
- changing information that has intellectual value, as well as much more.
What are the ways to protect against alleged violations of the law? Each state can have its own methods of struggle. At the international level, for example, WIPO operates - a worldwide organization of intellectual property. It is this organization that protects the results of mental activity from illegal encroachment. WIPO was founded in 1967 as one of the UN agencies. However, the implementation of its basic powers began only in 1974.
Disposal of exclusive copyright and its protection in Russia
Which Russian government agency is involved in the protection of intellectual property? According to the norms of the Civil Code, such an instance is the FSIS - Federal Service for Intellectual Property. In fact, this is a kind of WIPO analogue. Nevertheless, some functions of this body are particularly unique. Here is what is included in the tasks of the FSIS:
- modernization work to ensure closer cooperation with international authorities;
- implementation of constitutional norms, laws and by-laws, the object of which may be intellectual property;
- control over the conduct of expert work in the field of non-property relations;
- exercising control over the payment of patent or copyright fees;
- registration of patents, etc.
The executive body of the FSIS has several departments. This, for example, Rospatent is an instance that deals exclusively with patent law. FSIS is trying to maintain close relations with similar international bodies in order to develop cooperation.