On the last Saturday of June, Russia and some CIS countries celebrate the Inventor's Day. The holiday was introduced at the end of the 50s of the last century at the suggestion of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and was conceived as a semblance of awarding the Nobel Prize on a national scale. Unfortunately, today, despite the growing role of science and technology in modern life, the Inventor's Day has significantly lost its scope.
Russia is home to tens of thousands of useful inventions. Many technical means that have changed the face of civilization have been invented and improved in our country. The movement of inventors and rationalizers gained special scope after the approval of Soviet power. After the transition to a new economic policy, economic mechanisms based on the independence of production enterprises appeared in the country. This led to the emergence of patent protection for inventions. The Law "On Patents for Inventions" of 1924 provided for such a form of protection of rights to inventions as a patent. This document certified the recognition of the innovation by the invention and attributed the authorship to it.
Gradually, a whole network of bodies in charge of the affairs of inventors developed, spreading to all levels of the national economy. Mass public organizations of innovators were gaining strength, for example, the All-Union Society of Inventors and Rationalizers (VOIR). Here, thousands of inventors and innovators of the country found methodological and organizational support.
The annual All-Union Day of the Inventor and Rationalizer was established in the USSR in January 1979 and, according to tradition, is still celebrated at the end of June - on the last Saturday of the month. Nowadays, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks decides on the issue of patents for inventions. In 2005 alone, more than 20 thousand patent applications were received from domestic inventors.
In our time, honoring inventors on the day of their professional holiday has remained in the traditions of only some large enterprises and design bureaus. Such traditions are strong, for example, at OJSC KamAZ, OKB Oktava, and the Ural automobile plant. On Inventor's Day, in such teams, inventors are solemnly handed over copies of patents, and the results of local competitions for the title "Inventor of the Year" are summed up. However, due attention to the professional holiday of innovators at the state level today is clearly not enough. This is evidenced even by the fact that by the decree of the President of Russia dated September 7, 2010, among some other honorary titles, the titles "Honored Innovator of Russia" and "Honored Inventor of Russia" were abolished.
