1. Product IP
Seminar (TM 641)
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)
M TECH (TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT)
Submitted by
EKANTO GHOSH
Reg. No.: 15-16-11
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

2. Agenda
Product Life-Cycle: IP View
Case Study: The Kalashnikov Rifle
About the Kalashnikov Rifle
AK 47: Intellectual Property
AK 47: India
Q & A
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)
AK 47: Lessons Learnt

3. Product Life-Cycle: IP View
Create/Innovate Commercialize
IP
Protection
Protect & Enforce
Scientist/Designer
IP Expert
Entrepreneur Product Manager
• Market Research &
Analysis
• Patent Trolling
•Setup organization
• Setup partnership
• License Out
• File Provisional (12 months)
•File PCT (18 months)
• File full patent

4. Case Study: The Kalashnikov Rifle
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

5. About the Kalashnikov Rifle
1946–1948
Lt. Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov
500 m
firearms
AK 47
• AK 47
• AKM
• AK 74
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

6. AK 47: Intellectual Property
• The Soviet Union paid little attention to copyright laws.
• Arms production licenses were easily handed out to its allies in eastern Europe and elsewhere.
• The Cold War-era production licenses have long-since expired, but production has continued.
1997
The Izhmash factory in the Ural Mountains city of Izhevsk, which makes Kalashnikovs, secured a state patent
for the weapon.
2013
Izhmash and Izhevsk Mechanical Plant were merged and formally
renamed Kalashnikov Concern.
1946-
48
The original design for the AK-47 was never
patented.
"At that time, patenting inventions wasn't an issue in our
country. We worked for socialist society, for the good of the
people, which I never regret.“
- Lt. Gen. Mikhail Kalashnikov
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

7. AK 47: Intellectual Property (Cont.)
30 foreign manufacturers currently make
Kalashnikov rifles excluding Russia. 1 fully legitimate license holder to
manufacture Kalashnikovs is in Venezuela.
• Kalashnikov makers in East European nations and China, have signaled readiness to respect Russian
copyright.
• The deals need to be negotiated on a government level.
$400-
500 m
Lost by Izhmash due to counterfeit Kalashnikov
makers as per its director Vladimir Grodetsky.
10-
12%
of the million Kalashnikov rifles sold globally
every year are from Russia, with the rest being
unlicensed copies.
80-
90%
Of the volume of unlicensed small arms in the $2 billion
international market is counterfeit Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Intellectual
Piracy
Dumping prices
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

8. AK 47: India
The Indian Army bought cheap AK variants
from:
• Romania,
• Bulgaria and
• erstwhile Czechoslovakia, not Russia.
While externally the VZ-58 resembles the Soviet
AK-47, it is a different design based on a short-
stroke gas piston. It shares no parts with
Kalashnikov rifles, including the magazine.
Among the first AKs purchased for the
Indian army were the Czech-made VZ-58, an
assault rifle that outwardly resembled the
Kalashnikov.
1993
Actor Sanjay Dutt was
jailed for possessing an
'AK-56‘ which was
actually, a Norinco
Type-56, the Chinese
variant of the AK 47.
Indigenous INSAS vs Bulgarian AK 47
• A Bulgarian AK 47 is Rs 5000 less than the INSAS assault rifle.
• It is significantly cheaper than the Russian AK variant made in Izhmash
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

9. AK 47: India (Cont.)
• Event: Defexpo, a
biennial defence
exhibition
• Venue: Pragati
Maidan, New Delhi
• Year: 2004
• Indian Ordnance
Factory board
pavilion displayed:
AK-7, a knock-off of
the AK with its
distinctive banana
shaped magazine.
• Guest: General Kalashnikov,
designer of the AK
• Inference drawn:
 The OFB had illegally copied
his design.
 The pretense was so thinly
veiled that the weapon was
even called the 'AK-7'.
• Result:
 The general made
his disgust known and
threatened to file a
copyright violation
case against the
government.
 His protest had an
instant impact. OFB
shelved the AK-7.
Advanced discussions in
progress between:
• Russia’s Kalashnikov Concern,
makers of AK-47 assault rifles,
• Indian companies (public as
well as private) to:
 manufacture certain
weapons in India and
 share technology with
local partners.
• OFB designers have been
attempting to develop an assault
rifle, using the AK-47 as a model
but without replicating any of its
mechanism.
Make in India
• Variants were being
developed by three
ordnance factories:
Rifle Factory of
Ishapore,
Small Arms Factory
of Kanpur, and
Ordnance Factory
of Tiruchirapalli.
DEFENCE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (DU)

10. AK 47: Lessons Learnt
Create/Innovate Commercialize
IP
Protection
Protect & Enforce
1946-48
No IP Protection
1997s
• Due to socialist setup.
• Allies easily allowed to manufacture.
• Leading to counterfeit AK 47s in the
international market.
• Only one licensed manufacturer in
Venezuela.
• Kalashnikov Concern seeking for
partners for manufacturing in foreign
countries.
• Russia trying to resolve the
issue of counterfeit
manufacturing of AK 47s in
Eastern European countries
and China through diplomacy.
• No IP protection can lead to:
 Loss of Brand Equity.
 Loss of Market Share.
 Financial Losses.
IP Protection helps get the product its ‘true place’
in the market.

11. Q & A
?

12. Thank You