The experts from the Product Examination Department of the NAS “National Bureau of Expertise” SNCO spoke with Iravaban.net about their work challenges, its importance, examination results, and interesting cases encountered in practice.
“It seems that what is a person’s intellectual property, that is, what’s in someone’s mind, in their head, is untouchable, but today we have a situation where these seemingly untouchable values are being misappropriated,” notes Shushanik Movsisyan, expert at the Product Examination Department, adding that the most important part of an expert’s daily work is trying to bring criminal proceedings to positive resolution through special knowledge and various investigations.
According to Anna Harutyunyan, expert at the Product Examination Department, over time, procedural issues require answering questions related to intellectual property results.
Intellectual property results include inventions, copyright and related rights objects, industrial and commercial marks, industrial designs, and trade secrets.
The expert reported a case where an author discovered their song lyrics were exactly copied and presented under another person’s name, with that person performing the song at numerous concerts, violating the author’s rights.
“This raises the issue of proof, that the author must be able to prove they are the real rights holder of the copyright-protected object,” notes Harutyunyan.
According to the expert, under available evidence, appropriate arithmetic calculations were made and the extent of damage was assessed, which was later subject to recovery.
Shushanik Movsisyan notes that even computer programs, games, and food are being counterfeited. The latter case is particularly notable, when counterfeit food was brought to market, after which the perpetrators were identified. Laboratory tests within the examination showed that although the product was counterfeit, its quality characteristics were better than the factory product.
There are even cases when consumers during impulse purchases don’t pay attention to what’s written on the product, mainly looking at color and design solutions, which can cause confusion.
“Intellectual property examination is significant and important not only for business protection but also for consumer rights protection. There have been many cases when I too have fallen victim to trademark confusion similarity while making personal purchases,” says the expert.
Shushanik Movsisyan gives another example, noting a case where famous brand jewelry was counterfeited. Being the author of jewelry design solutions and having a patent, the person noticed that a copy of their brand had been marketed.
“The rights holder accidentally saw in one of the shops that their product was being sold with a non-repeating mark, they bought it as a customer to have evidence, and appealed to the appropriate authorities. During the examination, of course, we needed to apply several methodologies to achieve the desired result,” she said.
Details in the video.
