> Russia on Wednesday said it will allow imports of goods without trademark owners’ permission
That trademark owners' permission was needed in the first place is a disgusting infringement of basic ownership and consumer rights, in favor of manufacturers. Do other countries still have this requirement, to allow corporations to do better market segmentation, so only "authorized" importers can do business? Is this what "free trade" agreements are about? Letting corporations decide who may trade in their goods, even after they've sold them?
That trademark owners' permission was needed in the first place is a disgusting infringement of basic ownership and consumer rights, in favor of manufacturers. Do other countries still have this requirement, to allow corporations to do better market segmentation, so only "authorized" importers can do business? Is this what "free trade" agreements are about? Letting corporations decide who may trade in their goods, even after they've sold them?
Edit: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_import, most countries do allow parallel imports, so the situation is not so dire.