Slashdot Mirror
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.
They got a patent. Doesn't matter who they bribed to get it. Its the law. Pay up.
This is what we get for playing IP games and "owning" ideas.
Take a good look at the countries that commonly use AK-47s. You're not likely to find a whole of big fans of intellectual property rights there.
Nahhh, invading is sooo old school-- they'll just point some ballistic weapons your way and cut off your gas supply..
From what I understand, Mikhail Kalashnikov based parts of the AK-47 design on various other weapons. The trigger group and bolt resemble those of the M1 Garand, and the pistol grip and gas assembly resemble those of the German StG44 (widely considered to be the first true assault rifle). [Source: AK47, Duncan Long, Paladin Press 1988] How much original content must a design have before it can be patentable?
During the Cold War, at least a dozen Warsaw Pact and non-aligned countries produced copies and variants of the AK47, with the Soviet Union's tacit, if not overt, blessing. Even now, new AKs are being built by blacksmiths in Pakistan and US gunsmiths (the latter do this to comply with ATF regulations that prohibit import of receivers and assembled rifles).
Now that the Cold War is over, Russia wants to get paid? I'd think that with all their oil and gas income, licensing fees would be a pittence by comparison.
k.
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
...The Russians make a mockery of the G-8 and its principles. This demand for licensing fees on supposed patents of a 60-year-old technology is the latest in a string of non-Western activities...
That doesn't sound non-Western to me. I wish it did, but wishes don't make truth.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
What crap. Same old Russia-baiting BS. The US has gone out of its way to damage relations with Russia. Look at how Yeltsin's concentration of powers and suppression of political opponents was vigorously supported by the US -- just as long as he was dismantling Russia, the US didn't care. But as soon as someone isn't playing ball with Uncle Sam, then the diatribes start. Sorry, but there's no credibility in that.
My apologies, and thank you for the correction. I actually looked, and I am not only 100% wrong but you are 100% right.
In my defense, I was remembering a conversation eight years past with a neighbor fifty years my senior. And hosing it. That or Sully hosed it in the first place, I'm not sure.
.sig: Now legally binding!