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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.
Open source it?
No, they will change the manufacturing process to stop those dastardly internet pirates.
Every single bullet on the planet will be recoded to stop working in old unpatched guns.
liqbase
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
I'm glad I'm not the debt collector.
Many countries make an AK-47-based assault rifle. That's because, for an assault rifle, it's important that it's reliable in the crappiest imaginable conditions, and in the hands of the laziest of the fighters.
The best AK-47 variant is produced in Finland:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rk_62
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rk_62
http://www.ak-47.us/Finland.php
This weapon (RK-62) is widely considered to be the best assault rifle in general.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Mod parent up for being exactly correct, this is precisely what we get for playing IP games. Unfortunately I can't source this from memory, but I read not long ago in international news coverage of this issue that Russians have essentially admitted this stance is a direct result of US diplomats in the back pocket of the MPAA raising hell about AllOfMP3.com and resisting Russia's application for membership in some international trade organization on the basis of unpaid royalties. Russia countered by demanding the US, as a member of said organization, abide by its IP laws and pay Russia royalties for all the AK's the CIA has had manufactured and distributed over the years. Russia doesn't want to collect money from Outer Bungholistan, they'd have to pay in goats anyway. It's specifically tit for tat with the US. If Russia has to pay royalties for US IP copied and distributed to US customers, the US should have to pay Russia for Russian IP copied and distributed to US puppets.
Ok now what idiot is gonna be the first to try enforce the patents on the A-bomb?
I get my weapons from allofrifle.com
They say it's totally legal
This tagline is umop apisdn.
...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.
Actually, Izhevsk Machine Tool Factory (IZHevsky MASHinostroitelny zavod in Russian) IS Izhmash. It is still alive and well.
I know this because my parents live in Izhevsk and work at Izhevsk Mechanical Factory (Izhevsky Mechanichesky Zavod) which makes hunting and sport rifles.
I suggest you brush up on your firearm facts before you try to rent an AK at the range. The AK-47 is 7.62x39. 7.62x54R is a full sized, rimmed rifle round chambered in the likes of heavy war rifles like the Mosin-Nagant, Dragunov, some variants of Mauser rifle, and so forth. Not only is a x54R ludicrously overpowered for the AK's operating mechanism, the case of the x54R is longer than a complete 7.62x39 cartridge. The two calibers aren't even close in terms of powder charge, bullet mass, or ballistics. The only thing 'similar' about them is that both will fit bullets down a 7.62mm bore and both are used by Russians.
It is of note that 7.62x51 NATO will not chamber and fire in an AK (x39) or any x54R chambered firearm - The former because the NATO round is way too long to even remotely safely chamber, and the latter because the NATO round is shorter and not rimmed and will swim around in the x54R chamber, probably rupturing the case on ignition if the firing pin reaches the primer at all.
Long rant made short: Don't try to sound smart on topics about which you know nothing. Check your facts; Hollywood isn't a source.