Olympus in Russia

Olympus in Russia is a subsidiary of Olympus Europe Holding, headquartered in Hamburg. Olympus has more than 30,000 employees worldwide. Olympus is currently a leading manufacturer of professional optocyphs products. In Russia, the company develops two main business areas - the sale and service of medical and industrial endoscopic equipment, as well as photo and audio equipment of the OLYMPUS trademark. The service network has 27 regional points, in addition to Moscow, there are official representative offices in St. Petersburg and Kyiv.

Olympus in Russia

2023: Maintaining business in Russia

At the end of January 2023, Olympus announced that it was maintaining medical business on the Russian market after the introduction of Japanese sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Olympus has received official confirmation from headquarters that the new package of sanctions will not affect the further conduct of the medical business of the Russian division of Olympus in Russia, Olympus said in a statement received by RBC.

Olympus announced the preservation of business in Russia

The manufacturer notes that it is closely monitoring the situation related to the expansion of sanctions by Japan, published on the official website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan at the end of January 2023. Then the department said that Japan was introducing a ban on the export to Russia of vaccines, medical equipment and drugs, as well as some other goods.

The Japanese government decided in connection with the international situation around Ukraine as a contribution to international efforts to solve this problem and to establish peace to introduce a ban on the export to Russia of goods that can serve to strengthen military power, the ministry said in a statement.

Medical equipment manufactured by the Japanese corporation Olympus will continue to arrive in Russia. Olympus noted that the company has been operating in the Russian market for more than 25 years and remains true to its goal: to make people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling, as well as to provide customers and patients with their medical solutions to ensure access to healthcare and continuous safe treatment of serious diseases such as colorectal or lung cancer.

Olympus develops and manufactures microscopes, industrial endoscope test systems, and professional medical imaging systems. Since 2021, OM Digital Solutions has been producing other products (cameras, binoculars and audio systems^[1]

2022: Refusal of compensation 582 million rubles in the case of parallel import of endoscopes

In July 2022, the Court of Intellectual Rights in the cassation instance rejected Olympus's claim against the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development, from which the Japanese manufacturer of medical equipment tried to recover 581.6 million rubles in the case of parallel import of endoscopes.

According to the case file, about 150 units of endoscopic equipment - bronchovideoscopes, colonovideoscopes, rhinolaringideoscopes and other medical equipment - UBRD received by agreement from Medical scan LLC "": medical devices acted as collateral for the loan, and then, in December 2018 and February 2019, transferred to the bank by agreement as compensation.

The court refused Olympus in compensation 582 million rubles

Endoscopes were imported into Russia by MK Unix, which acquired them from Trade Export from Armenia, and Trade Export, in turn, bought them from the Mongolian Solarmed Mongolia LLC.

UBRR tried to sell the medical equipment back to Olympus, but the company refused the offer and, moreover, appealed to the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region with a demand to impose a ban on the withdrawal of equipment to the market and on the use of the trademark. Olympus also demanded to recover compensation in two times the cost of equipment (we are talking about the amount of 581.6 million rubles).

In January 2022, the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region partially satisfied the claims of Olympus and recovered 55 million rubles from UBRD, and also introduced a restriction on the bank's use of the trademark. However, in April 2022, the 17th Arbitration Court of Appeal revised the verdict: the judges considered that the Japanese company did not protect its rights as a copyright holder, and its actions were aimed at enriching at the expense of the defendant. As a result, the court rejected all claims of the plaintiff and removed interim measures from medical equipment. In July 2022, the cassation represented by the Intellectual Rights Court left the decision unchanged.^[2]

2021: Opening of a training center in Moscow

On March 19, 2021, it became known that Olympus was opening its own training center in Moscow for medical specialists.

The goal of the training center is to train as many doctors as possible to effectively apply Olympus technologies to identify cancers at an early stage when they are treatable, and to help improve the skills of medical personnel

It is expected that at least 500 health care specialists with different levels of training will be trained at the Olympus Moscow Training Center every year.

Russian specialists have been waiting for this center for a long time. In our complex specialty without training in technology, it is simply impossible to imagine the profession and its development. I would like specialists from Russia to strive to learn this equipment and get the necessary skills for their daily work, noted Yuri Gennadievich Starkov, MD, prof., Deputy Chief Endoscopist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Head of the Surgical Endoscopic Department of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "N.V. Vishnevsky National Medical Research Center of Surgery" Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

As of March 2021, reducing mortality from malignant neoplasms is the main goal of the federal project "Combating Cancer." One of the most important steps to achieve it is to increase the early detection of cancer. To do this, it is planned to develop and implement various screening programs for the population, conduct awareness-raising campaigns, create examination rooms for patients, as well as the use of diagnostic research methods. Thanks to the development of medical science, many cancers have ceased to be a sentence for the patient, and some of them can be completely cured if the pathology is found in a pre-cancer state or at an early stage. These include tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, which can be removed at the diagnostic stage without the use of subsequent chemo- or radiation therapy.

The standard for many diagnostic studies is Olympus medical systems. The company is a representative in the field of the production of endoscopic equipment for the examination of the gastrointestinal organs, the company's share in the world market for March 2021 is more than 70%. With the help of Olympus equipment, 39 million colonoscopy procedures are carried out annually in the world. In general, the company's medical devices help in the treatment of more than 100 diseases.

Over the past decades, the company has paid significant attention to the issue of medical education. For many years, the company's training centers have been operating around the world: the USA, Germany, Dubai, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan and other countries. In addition, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Olympus Continuum distance learning platform has been created on their basis, which allows even more health care professionals to learn to use Olympus equipment in their practice at each stage of their professional development.

The Moscow Olympus training center with an area of ​ ​ more than 370 m2 is equipped with the latest equipment. It provides a lecture hall, a modern integrated operating area, an area for practical training and manual skills development, as well as a disinfection and processing room. On the basis of the center, educational events will be held in various formats: Medical Expert Training programs, lectures, round tables, seminars, television broadcasts from operating rooms. The trainings are designed both for entry-level specialists and for actively practicing doctors who want to study this or that technique in depth.

We are glad that this Olympus training center in Eastern Europe is opening in Moscow. This indicates that the demand for our medical systems in Russia is quite high. Which is quite justified: it is impossible to build a screening system without the use of diagnostic equipment. Together with the leading experts of the country, we will make every effort to build the educational process as efficiently as possible and train as many doctors as possible to use Olympus technologies. I am sure that this will contribute to an increase in early diagnosis of cancer and a decrease in oncological mortality in our country, said Vitali Yershov, General Director of Olympus Moscow LLC

2020: Olympus lawsuit to recover 580 million rubles from UBR. Postponed for settlement peacefully

On February 8, 2020, it became known that the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region postponed until March 16 the consideration of the claim of Olympus Corporation against the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD) to recover 581.6 million rubles. In this amount, the company estimated compensation for violation of trademark rights to medical devices. Read more here.

2019: Claim against UBRD for the recovery of 581.6 million rubles. for the storage of counterfeit equipment

Olympus Corporation (a Japanese company that produces optics, photographic equipment, equipment for medicobiological research) filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region against PJSC Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD) to recover 581.6 million rubles. In this amount, the company estimated compensation for violation of trademark rights to medical devices. At the request of the plaintiff, the court arrested more than a hundred units of various medical equipment, which is in storage at the bank.

According to court documents, Olympus Corporation is trying to obtain compensation for the trademarks Olympus No. 777136 and Olympus No. 62701 (both belong to the categories of medical devices, instruments). The lawsuit was filed on October 3, 2019, the company asked to combine it with another filed back in July. It refers to the obligation of the bank to stop violating the exclusive rights to these trademarks, to seize and destroy disputed goods, and in the updated requirements also ask to recover 581.6 million rubles.

A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for October 30, 2019.

In particular, we are talking about more than 150 pieces of medical instruments, including bronchovideoscopes, colonovideoscopes, gastrovideoscopes, rhinolaring ideoscopes and sigmavideoscopes. The court ruling states that all these devices are in storage at the bank. The court, at the request of the plaintiff, seized this equipment. It is noted that it was produced during 2018.^[3]

2011

In 2011, the company has representative offices in St. Petersburg, Kyiv (Ukraine) and Almaty (Kazakhstan) and a developed network of dealers and service organizations in Russia and the CIS.

One of the most popular (among doctors) types of the company's activities is educational work: holding events for endoscopic doctors and nurses in various regions of Russia - conferences, symposia and master classes. Having information from the manufacturer about the latest types of equipment and methods of its use, Olympus Moscow acquaints doctors with the latest achievements in the field of endoscopy through the organization of scientific, practical and clinical seminars together with the Russian and regional endoscopic societies. Russian-Japanese seminars on medical exchange in the field of endoscopy, which demonstrate a high level of endoscopy development in Japan and experience in mastering and using new methods by Russian doctors, have become especially popular.

2010

In December 2010, two companies merged: Olympus Moscow and Olympus RUS (sale and maintenance of microscopes and photo and audio equipment).

The main activities of Olympus Moscow LLC until the end of 2010 were the sale and service of medical and industrial endoscopic equipment Olympas in Russia and the CIS countries.

2009

In 2009, Olympus Rus was created in Russia, which is engaged in the logistics and distribution of Olympus photo and audio products in the Russian Federation. The CEO is Krešimir Drašković.

1993

Izumi Kadoya, - CEO of the company from 1993 to 2008.

OLYMPUS MOSCOW Limited Liability Company was established on March 9, 1993 as a subsidiary of the Japanese company Olympas Optical Co., Ltd. (since 2008, Olympus Moscow has 100% investment in the European branch - Olympas Europe Holding).

The company began its activities at a time when the medical market was experiencing serious changes associated with the collapse of the USSR and the formation of new independent states. In the context of the economic instability of the 90s, the company's management managed not only to maintain a growing company (during the crises of 1994 and 1998), but also to bring it to the leaders of the endoscopic market thanks, first of all, to a high-quality product, the availability of repair and service services and a developed service network.

It is service that is an important criterion for users of endoscopic equipment, since it requires regular preventive inspection and maintenance to maintain good technical condition and prevent expensive major repairs.

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