Seminar on Securing New Developments in the Oil and Gas Industry in Russia and the Middle East: Trends and Realities held in Kazan with KFU’s participation
The event was organized by the law firm Gorodissky & Partners and KFU.
Representatives of the oil and gas industry, universities, and intellectual property consultants gathered at the Korston Hotel and Conference Center to discuss intellectual property protection.
Ildus Chukmarov, Deputy Director for Continuing Education and Industrial Partnerships, addressed the audience on behalf of Kazan University.
“We are pleased to collaborate with both high-tech companies and those that help protect high technology,” he said. “I must note that some of the Institute’s graduates are patent attorneys and are present at this meeting. Furthermore, our industrial partners are participating in today’s seminar.”
Ildus Chukmarov delivered a presentation on the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies, during which he emphasized that KFU currently ranks 35th in the QS global rankings for Petroleum Engineering. According to the deputy director, university representatives, including the institute’s scientists, are actively engaged in inventions, as evidenced by the fact that Kazan University receives approximately 200 patents annually. Speaking about the Institute, he emphasized that the entire process at the institute—from implementing an idea to obtaining a patent and providing services to leading Russian and international companies—is quite fast.
He also reported that KFU has a catalyst factory that produces reagents developed by KFU scientists for enhanced oil recovery, commissioned by large industrial petrochemical companies. Furthermore, the Small Tonnage Chemical Technology Park was opened this year, aimed at implementing scientific developments in production.
“The seminar is devoted to issues related to patenting and protecting developments in the oil and gas industry, which is very important for us. We are ready to collaborate with law firms that provide services in intellectual property protection,” he concluded.
The seminar comprised two roundtable discussions: Current Trends in Innovative Activities of Foreign Oil and Gas Companies: Information and Substantive Analysis and What You Need to Know When Entering Middle Eastern Markets. Leading patent attorneys and lawyers from Russia, Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia spoke about the specifics of patent protection for technologies.
“Several years ago, an agreement was signed between Kazan Federal University and Gorodissky & Partners to establish a joint intellectual property center. We are now returning to this topic, and I think our relationship will continue to develop,” Albert Ibragimov, Patent Attorney of the Russian Federation, Eurasian Patent Attorney, and Director of the Kazan Branch of Gorodissky & Partners, told a Kazan Federal University reporter during a break. “Protection and patent maintenance of innovative technical solutions, the transfer of licenses, and other intellectual property rights related to industry are areas of our interest. Technological leadership is one of Russia’s seven national goals approved by the President of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 and for the long term up to 2036. We must not only acquire foreign technology licenses but also sell licenses for our own technologies.”
He also noted that the company, together with the Center for Advanced Training (CdoGEO), is developing advanced training courses and workshops for experts and top managers of industrial companies.
A patent is the result of successful research and development work, a kind of indicator of research and investment activity. One of the participants, Ilyas Shigapov, Head of the Patent Service at the Higher School of Oil at the Almetyevsk State Oil Institute and a graduate of the IGPT, fully agreed with this statement.
“Universities today face many challenges related to developing the inventive potential of students. We must train the engineers of the future who possess innovative, inventive thinking,” Shigapov shared after the event.
He also stated that the Institute of Geology and Petroleum TechnologIes, from which he graduated in 2017 with a degree in oil and gas engineering, provided him with deep knowledge and excellent practical skills. The alumnus added that his younger brother enrolled in the geology program here.
