The protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet has become a serious issue affecting the interests of the business community and consumers, and the country as a whole.

Therefore, the International Business Council Committee on Intellectual Property decided to discuss on May 24, 2022 the legal issues that arise in this area. The meeting was attended by representatives of creative industries, e-commerce, cultural institutions, and the media.

“This platform is one of the few that acts as a bridge between business, government, international organizations and other stakeholders in the field of intellectual property. In addition, we are a permanent partner of Kyrgyzpatent in this area,” said IBC head Askar Sydykov opening the meeting.

IBC members including Arte and other law firms, provide ongoing support to intellectual property entities not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also to foreign companies that operate or protect their copyrights and trademarks in our country.

The legislation of Kyrgyzstan, unlike neighboring Kazakhstan, does not contain specialized measures to counter violations of intellectual property rights on the Internet.

According to IBC Committee Chair Saodat Shakirova, the Eurasian Economic Commission is currently considering a draft EAEU Agreement on coordinated approaches to combat violations of intellectual property rights on the Internet. If the agreement is adopted by the EAEU member countries, the legislation of Kyrgyzstan on the regulation of intellectual property will undergo tangible changes.

Representatives of Kyrgyzpatent and Shakirova provided an overview of the draft of this agreement. IBC is now developing proposals to it.

“The event was very interesting. The presentation of the Mediacube Group, which accompanies the popular children's channel D Billions, especially attracted attention,” Sydykov said.

The employees of the Museum of Fine Arts had many questions. Experts of the Association of Creative Industries, Kyrgyzpatent, Arte law firm answered them. As a result, the meeting agreed that Kyrgyzpatent would cooperate more closely with cultural institutions and hold a separate meeting with them. The fact is that museums only manage works of art, but do not have rights to them, and therefore it is necessary to restrict them from any kind of litigation.

The scope of activities of the IBC Committee on Intellectual Property is expanding, and now it also includes the Association of Creative Industries, the Association of Electronic Commerce, and cultural institutions as invited participants.

“We will continue to protect intellectual property rights on the Internet in Kyrgyzstan, which means promoting the development of the creative economy, art, innovation and the production of high value-added intellectual products,” said Sydykov about the plans of the association, stressing that the 21st century is focused primarily on the objects of intellectual labor.

The legislation in this area in our country is poorly developed — not as we would like.

“Therefore, we will jointly improve the legislation and its application in Kyrgyzstan. The better the legal conditions, the more intellectual property will be protected. And this will stimulate people and companies to produce more products of intellectual labor,” the IBC concluded.