Con artists of the world would be humbled by the genius of Lviv entrepreneur Vitaliy Golev. He has figured out a legal way to make money out of other people's ideas and Ukraine's legal loophole.
Golev
simply registered a handful of patents in Ukraine on common things
like light bulbs, clothes hangers and even tablet computers. So,
anyone who imports these goods to Ukraine or produces them locally
might have to pay a small royalty to the patent holder – even if the
company is Apple or Samsung, and even if the company or person owns
the international rights to the same item.
His representative, Kosmonava Ukraina company, did not respond to Kyiv Post requests for comment.
The
national database of patents shows that plenty of common things have
been patented in Ukraine, including pens and bottles, rubber stoppers
and so on. Serhiy Benedysyuk, a lawyer from PwC, says this happens
because of a number of legal loopholes.
The
industrial design patent is the kind used by con artists. Unlike an
invention patent, it does not need to be examined for novelty and a
number of other characteristics. Its registration is merely a
formality. “If a person brings a full set of documents with
object’s description, then it can’t be refused,” Benedysyuk
said.
The
Ukrainian Institute of Industrial Property, which processes
registrations, can turn down an application if a similar design
already exists in their database.
An
existing patent can be challenged in court, and there were 12 such
cases last year, according to the Ukrainian Institute of Industrial
Property. In all cases, the courts upheld patent registrations.
The poor success rate did not stop the Danish retail chain of
household goods JYSK from filing its own court challenge after getting a nasty surprise in November last
year, when they tried to import a batch of wooden clothes hangers to
Ukraine.
“The
customs service explained to us that this type of product is patented
in Ukraine and we cannot import it without permission and paying
royalties,” says Eugen Ivanytsya, director of JYSK Ukraine. “The
certificate on patent registration was filed to the customs office
the day before, because until Nov. 30, 2012 JYSK had no problems with
the import of hangers to Ukraine.”
The
actual patent on coat hangers was registered by Golev on Jan. 25,
2012, according to the national patent database. On the same day, he
registered patents on certain parts on furniture and the simple paint
roller used by every household to give the old walls a new lick of
paint. He was represented by Serhiy Zaviyskiy, who
happens to hold a few patents on bottle corks.
Kommersant
newspaper recently reported that some retailers received letters from
Kosmonava Ukraina, which represents the patent holder on coat
hangers, asking them to pay royalties.
Representatives
of the company could not comment on the issue.
The
payoff is not very big: for example, JYSK had to pay Hr 500 for its
batch. But the retailer decided to challenge the patent in court, and
has refrained from importing coat hangers until he matter is
resolved.
“Our
lawyers say that such common goods as coat hangers that have been
used by mankind for such a long time, cannot be patented because the
set of essential features of wooden hangers has been generally
available before the application for a patent was filed,” Ivanytsya
said.
After
JYSK’s appeal, the court froze the possibility to transfer the
patent to other people. The action was timely because Golev attempted
to file a patent re-registration using a Hong Kong registered
company.
But
even if the court cancels this patent registration, Golev already has
plan B, for “light bulbs.” On March 25 he received two patents
for different kinds of light bulbs.
Kosmonava
Ukraina seems to be associated with more than one professional patent
holder. Its director Kyrylo Goliusov has patents on more than a dozen
common items like bottle corks, bottle spray caps, tubes of glue and
toothpicks, according to the patent database.
His
brother Dmytro Goliusov is also in business, holding patents on
screws, fuel briquettes and tablet computers.
Kyrylo
Goliusov told ProIT website that he and his brother have not intended
any malice, merely getting patents to avoid problems with customs
service. “We are trying to get design patents for things we are
importing from abroad or are planning to import,” he explained. At
the same time, that’s a way to block other importers, because
patent holders can control the usage of items in the country.
Zaviyskiy,
the representative of Golev, has attempted to use this right against
Fozzy Group this year. According to a register of court decisions, in
January his company Energokontrakt-Centr applied to Kyiv region
commercial court to ban Fozzy-Food from importing a batch of wooden
coat hangers from China.
In
its appeal the company explained that it was acting on behalf of
Golev, who “had an exclusive right… to allow others to use in
Ukraine the design sample – “Clothes hanger”.” But the
company went to wrong court, and its appeal was declined.
Ironically,
in 2010 Energokontrakt-Centr was a defendant is a similar case.
Belarussian bottle corks producer Alkopak sued the company because it
patented and imported corks that had been previously patented by
Belorussians. Their claim was satisfied in 2012 after four trials.
Kyv
Post staff writer Kateryna Kapliuk can be reached at
[email protected].
