Civic Chamber advocates protection of NGOs’ names
Civic Chamber advocates protection of NGOs’ intellectual property
29.03.2017
Experts have flagged the existence of scammers using the names of renowned NGOs for illegal activities.
Civic Chamber member Vladimir Slepak has appealed to Prosecutor General Yuriy Chayka to examine enforcement of the law which prohibits state registration of NGOs with names which duplicate existing organisations.
“All over the country, organisations are registering under the same name as existing NGOs, causing irreparable damage to the charitable sector. The Russian Constitution directly states that intellectual property is protected by law. The proper regulation and effective protection of these rights against criminals whose activities damage the state, society and the rights holders is now an urgent task”, states the appeal.
Slepak notes that in the streets of Russian cities there are scammers with piggy banks bearing the names of famous charitable foundations. He emphasises that the Ministry of Justice must not allow registration of ‘clone’ NGOs and should apply in court for the liquidation of organisations breaching intellectual property laws.
Previously the charitable foundation Give Life announced its intention to file a complaint with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation against a non-profit organisation in Krasnoyarsk using its name. Lower courts found against the foundation, since the current Civil Code only protects unique names for commercial organisations.
