Kaliningrad hosted the opening ceremony of IPQuorum 2019, the International Forum on Intellectual

On April 10, 2019, IPQuorum 2019 – the Second International Strategic Forum on Intellectual Property was launched in Kaliningrad. The topic of the forum is: “DnA IP: All aspects of intellectual property for the individual and the economy.” The event unites more than 1,500 participants from 30 countries of the world.

The opening of IPQuorum 2019 was attended by Anton Alikhanov, the Governor of Kaliningrad region. The solemn ceremony was held in Yantar-Hall Congress Center, where a three-day business, cultural and exhibition program takes place.

The opening ceremony was followed by TASS press conference in Agat Premium Hall. The event was attended by Anton Alikhanov, the Governor of Kaliningrad region, Andrey Krichevskiy, the President of IPChain Association, Pavel Stepanov, the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Aleksey Marukhin, the President of Sitronics JSC, Boris Mashkovtsev, the General Director of Soyuzmultfilm and Lyudmila Novoselova, the President of the Court of Intellectual Property Rights.

Anton Alikhanov, the Governor of Kaliningrad region, thanked IPChain Association for the decision to hold the forum on the Baltic coast for the second time and expressed hope that it would become a good tradition.

He noted that the development of creative potential is a special topic for the region: “The main development factor for Kaliningrad region is human capital. The way the intellectual property rights are protected is the basis for investment decisions. The modern Kaliningrad experienced many difficulties when special economic zones were created. The city does not have oil, gas or potassium salts, as opposed to Perm, for example. Therefore, we will strive to introduce regulatory sandbox mechanics, including blockchain, intellectual property rights management, and so on.”

Andrey Krichevskiy, the President of IPChain Association, said that the purpose of the second forum was to build a communication platform, to expand the institute of intellectual property to source code and to make it meet the modern requirements of the economy and, most importantly, of those people who make creative products.

“Today, the existing intellectual property tools do not fully meet the needs of the market. We want to understand what functionality is needed by different areas of economy and the creators. Then we would like, with the governmental support, to try to change this institution in such a way that it corresponds to the time, is convenient and helps to develop the creative human potential,” said Andrey Krichevskiy.

Aleksey Marukhin, the President of Sitronics JSC, in his speech stressed the importance of projects in the field of intellectual property and expressed his readiness to join the work of IPChain Association. He also expressed his willingness to offer his partners various forms of creating new products and services. “As a technology company, we consider intellectual property projects very important to us. SITRONICS actively supports IPChain: this project helps to significantly accelerate the interaction of the holders of intellectual property rights. SITRONICS is pleased to be a participant of the project. IPChain creates a new infrastructure for working with intellectual property, and it is a necessary step for the confident development of digitalization in Russia. For our part, we are ready, as an expert digitalization office, to share with the new partners not only our experience, but also the technologies to create new products, i.e. the developments of our own scientific and technical laboratory and the formats for launching new services.”

In turn, Pavel Stepanov, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, noted the relevance of the problems stated in the agenda of the forum, while emphasizing that “today the creative industry is a driver of economic development.”

Pavel Stepanov also mentioned the anti-piracy memorandum, which appeared in Russia on November 1, 2018. “An anti-piracy memorandum has been concluded between the market participants. It’s a certain mechanism of self-regulation. We are well aware that the digital environment requires a certain consensus and behaviour between all the process participants, those who produce and distribute audiovisual content,” said the Deputy Minister of Culture.

At the end of the press conference, the IPChain Association, Federation of Intellectual Property, a regional public organisation for the development of creative economy, and the Government of Kaliningrad region signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of development of an intellectual property rights management culture and development of relevant services for members of the Special Economic Zone and the Innovation and Technology Centre. In accordance with the agreement, the Parties intend to jointly implement programs and projects aimed at the development and effective use of human capital for the social and economic development of Kaliningrad region as a Special Economic Zone.