CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION NETWORK OPENED IN COLUMBIA

Andrey Tsyganov shared FAS experience for protecting FIFA intellectual rights in the course of preparing and organizing 2018 FIFA World Cup

On 15 May 2019, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov took part in the opening ceremony of the Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) in Cartagena (Columbia).

The Conference was opened by Columbia President, Iván Duque Márquez, Head of Columbia’s Competition Authority, Andres Barreto, and ICN President, Andreas Mundt.

“Competition is a driver for developing any economy. My presence at the Conference opening demonstrates my confidence that competition should be in the focus of attention of the Presidents form all over the world”, pointed out Iván Duque Márquez in the introductory speech.

The first plenary session was devoted to the problems and prospects of competition law in innovative economies with rich cultural heritage.

At the outset of his report, Andrey Tsyganov pointed out that protecting intellectual property rights, particular, special symbols, is an important aspect of large-scale sport events such as World Cup that took place in Russia in 2018. Antimonopoly remedies were used to protect intellectual rights of FIFA, its sponsors and partners in the course of organizing the event.

For example, to create efficient system of exposing and preventing administrative violations related to unlawful use of FIFA symbols, a special FIFA Committee for Intellectual Rights Protection, comprising representatives of FAS, the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Tax Service, Riskonnadzor [the Federal Service for Supervision over Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Media], Rospotrebnadzor [the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing], the General Prosecutor’s Office and FIFA Secretariat.

Deputy Head of FAS informed that in the course of preparation and during the World Cup, FAS had opened 84 cases upon elements of unfair competition related to unlawful use of products with FIFA, symbols, including ambush marketing that creates false impression upon consumers about involvement of market participants with FIFA and the World Cup.

Andrey Tsyganov pointed out that transition of a considerable part of the violations in the digital form becomes typical for the modern economy: online sales of tickets for sport events, advertising and other means of goods promotion on e-sites and in social media, which required new approaches to exposing and suppressing possible violations.

“One of the main results of such efforts is establishing an efficient enforcement model for protecting intellectual rights of sport organizations that can be applied in the future for such large-scale events in Russia”, stated Andrey Tsyganov, summing up his speech.

Head of FAS Department for International Economic Cooperation, Lesya Davydova and her Deputies Anna Pozdnyakova and Vladimir Kachalin also took part in the session.