Russia Claims IP Rights In Manufacture of AK-47

Daniel Dvorkin writes "In the latest example of over-the-top intellectual property demands, Russia wants licensing fees for the production of AK-47s. According to first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov, the unlicensed production of Kalashnikovs (which have been around in very nearly their current form for 60 years) in ex-Soviet Bloc countries is 'intellectual piracy.' A giant but declining power starts demanding royalties on commonly used methods and materials that are widely understood, well known, and by any reasonable standard have long been in the public domain — does this sound familiar?" Wikipedia notes that the Izhevsk Machine Tool Factory in Russia obtained a patent on the manufacture of the AK-47 in 1999.

Comments

Re:Polonium patent?

[yada21]

The AK-47 is just a rip-off of the German MP44.

Re:Expired?

[delirium of disorder]

Your argument is that because dictators are good at oppressing people and some people will always try to be dictators, that therefore we must support dictatorship? You're a fucking asshole and if I ever encounter you in a revolutionary situation, I will fucking kill you and anyone else in your fascist/Stalinist/Christian/whatever army.

Look, I have no idea whether or not we can create a perfect egalitarian society. I just know that fighting oppression will always make our society better.

Re:Pay or Die!

[Zeinfeld]

You sure that this idea would work any better than suing Smith&Wesson for deaths caused by their guns?

Sure, Russia is asserting a moral claim here, not a legal one. There is an international system of patent law, it does not recognize any valid claim 60 years after first production.

Pointing out that the act of making firearms is itself immoral, and that the AK-47 in particular has caused as many deaths as Hitler or Stalin is a pretty good way to end the conversation.