Problems in copyright and intellectual property rights protection hampers Russia's WTO accession, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

"In Soviet times the amount of such cases [on copyright protection] was insignificant, the protection of intellectual property rights was imperfect," the president said, adding that subsequently Russia took on Western protection standards, but the country still remains vulnerable in this issue.

"When remarks are made or questions asked [on intellectual property rights protection], it is difficult to say anything," Medvedev said referring to his recent visit to the U.S. Silicon Valley where many Russian "nerds working there say they do not feel protected in Russia."

"But this is not about them [specialists in Silicon Valley], it is about our inventors, our authors, who must have a modern protection system, not even mentioning such 'trifles' as WTO accession," the president said.

Russia has been in negotiations for WTO membership for 17 years and is the only major economy outside of the global trade body.

U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed last month the United States' support of Russia's bid to join the global trade body.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 19 (RIA Novosti)