Integration of the USSR into the International Patent-Licensing System in the Context of International Technological Cooperation (1950s – early 1970s)

Abstract

In the 1950s, as the world entered an era of scientific and technological revolution, the leadership of the Soviet Union chose a new economic course based on scientific knowledge, which could enable the USSR to secure technological leadership, a competitive advantage over Western countries and closer integration with the CMEA. A key indicator of the success of this policy has been the country’s incorporation into the evolving system of international patenting and licence selling. In previous years, these processes had not been covered in historical academic publications. The purpose of this study is to explore the Soviet Union's entry into the international patent licensing system and related organizational, legislative and information measures drawing on the archival documents, including the All-Union Research Institute for State Patent Examination (VNIIGPE), introduced into the academic circuit for the first time, as well as on the published reports of the 1965 meeting of the Committee of Experts on Author's Certificates and the Washington Conference of 1970. The author demonstrates that in the 1950s and 1960s the USSR made the transition from a model of institutional and legal incorporation into international patent-licensing activity to an integration model based on patent cooperation and standardisation, in accordance with international norms. The reason for the slow development of technological cooperation, which hindered the achievement of ambitious goals, was the inertia and internal costs of the Soviet economic and administrative system, which fully affected the development of both models. Ultimately, changes in the international environment and the slowdown of economic development in the USSR in the early 1970s prevented the country from gaining even modest benefits from integration.