Introduction

LES Russia was established on August 6, 1994 in Moscow. At the LES USA/Canada Conference held at Hawaii (U.S.A.) in October of the same year, Russia was officially admitted as National Society to LES International.

The origins of LES International as a professional organization of specialists in the field of licensing and technology transfer go back to 1965 when representatives of 79 American companies, among which were 3M Company, Celanese Corporation and others, gathered in Hollywood Beach, Florida (U.S.A.) at the constitutional meeting of its National Society - Licensing Executives Society (LES).

Later, at the International Conference in San-Francisco (U.S.A.) in 1973, participants from U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Japan announced that the Licensing Executives Society (LES) transformed to the International Society - LES International.

Currently, LES International has the greatest membership among international organizations in the field of intellectual property. It comprises above 10,000 members from more than 70 countries and consists of 28 national and regional societies, thereby offering great opportunities to its members in establishing and expanding business contacts.

The LES International members are representatives of industrial companies, scientific, financial, governmental and commercial organizations, among which are businessmen, engineers, inventors, lawyers, patent attorneys, scientists, financiers, economists, consultants, state employees, students, etc. Therefore, LES International combines interests of representatives of industry and business (i.e. intellectual property owners) on the one hand, and lawyers, patent attorneys, advisers (i.e. experts in the field of intellectual property protection and licensing) on the other hand.

LES International issues a quarterly magazine, "LES Nouvelles", where the newer materials on intellectual property licensing are published.

Conferences and seminars are annually conducted in the frames of LES International, at which outstanding experts in intellectual property and licensing take the floor. The first Pan-European Conference in Russia was held in St-Petersburg, in 2001.

More detailed information about LES International can be found at Internet site: www.lesi.org

At the present time, the membership of LES Russia is about 100 members from the Russian Federation and other countries.

The principle objectives of LES Russia are:

1.    To assist its members in acquiring and improving their knowledge, skills and experience in the field of intellectual property, licensing and technology transfer.
2.    To promote establishment of business contacts between the LES members and Russian and foreign specialists in the field of licensing involving different intellectual property subject matters.
3.    To inform the public, state and governmental officials and business circles about the significance of licensing for national economy.

Advantages offered to the members of LES Russia:

1.     All members of LES Russia put their personal data in the Membership Directory of LES International.
2.     All members of LES Russia have an access to Internet resources of LES International.
3.     All members of LES Russia quarterly receive "LES Nouvelles" issued by LES International.
4.     All members of LES Russia have the possibility to order different publications and materials issued by LES International.
5.     All members of LES Russia pay reduced registration fees for attending conferences and seminars held by LES Russia and LES International.