Representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine met with Oleksandr Tsybort, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization, representatives of the Ministry of Economy and the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO/IP Office).

 

The topic of the meeting is current issues in the field of intellectual property rights protection, in particular the functioning of the trade marks protection system and the protection of trade secrets.

 

The event was attended by business representatives from the healthcare, agro-industrial complex, IT and telecommunications sectors, as well as legal advisers involved in projects in the field of innovations and copyright.

 

Representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine

 

During the meeting, issues of digital transformation of UANIPIO services, the implementation of four European integration bills, the fight against piracy and the development of the WIPO Alert database were discussed, as well as practical aspects of trade marks registration – from confidentiality of materials to the procedure for filing objections.

 

Tetyana Prokopchuk, Vice President of the Chamber, thanked the representatives of the Ministry of Economy and UANIPIO for their openness and constructive dialogue with the business community, noting their readiness for further cooperation.

 

“We strive to ensure that the protection of intellectual property in Ukraine is as reliable as in the EU states. For this purpose, the Ministry of Economy, together with the IP Office, creates a new digital infrastructure – unified registers, online processes, transparent interaction between authors, business and the state,” noted Oleksandr Tsybort.

 

Oleksandr Tsybort

 

He also called on businesses to leave feedback on the Pulse platform if there are barriers in the field of intellectual property or offers to the State.

 

“All signals are sent to the analytical dashboard, distributed among responsible institutions, and the results of implementation are publicly monitored – including by the Prime Minister,” he added.

 

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine: Inna Shatova (on the left) and Alina Podolieva

 

UANIPIO at the meeting represented:

 

• Mykola Pototskyi, Deputy Director;
• Tetiana Terekhova, Head of the Department for Industrial Property Development.

 

Mykola Pototskyi and Tetiana Terekhova

 

Mykola Pototskyi shared the joint developments regarding the legal protection of trade marks and trade secrets. He said that the adoption of the new Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Rights to Trade marks” is expected in 2026. The law will come into force one year after its publication, except for the provisions that will come into force from the moment the Agreement on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union comes into force.

 

“This law introduces completely new procedures regarding the protection of trade marks. We are talking about digitalization of processes, administration of state registers and bringing expertise closer to European standards. It is important that businesses – Ukrainian, European and American – are ready for these innovations,” he noted.

 

Proposals for trade marks, according to the speaker, provide for:

 

• differentiation of absolute and relative grounds for refusal to grant legal protection and TM invalidation, following the example of EU directives and regulations;

 

• change in the model of trademark expertise – introduction of a European approach, when the examination of an application is carried out by the IP Office on absolute grounds for refusal, and relative grounds are applied in the case of filing an opposition to the registration of the TM or when declaration of invalifdity of the TM;

 

• use of artificial intelligence technologies in expert examination procedures – to identify similar signs and improve the efficiency of application analysis;

 

• introduction of an administrative procedure for TM invalidation, which will allow such issues to be considered without going to the Court;

 

• introduction of the concept of “TM with a reputation”;

 

• introduction of the concept of “bad faith actions of the applicant while submitting an application” as grounds for TM invalidation.

 

“We strive to significantly reduce the period of trade mark registration. This will be possible through new digital tools, the usage of AI technologies and a change in the expertise model. Businesses will have to pay more attention to tracking applications that will be submitted for registration by third parties in order to respond in time and prevent possible encroachments on their rights. This model of expertise operates in the EU and provides fast terms for registration of the rights,” said Mykola Pototskyi.

 

For more information, please, follow the link.

 

 

Deputy Director of the IP Office also called on business to continue ongoing dialogue so that the developed European integration proposals not only adapt national legislation to the EU acquis, but also really help Ukrainian business to defend and protect intellectual property rights in Ukraine more effectively.

 

Participants of the meeting (photo provided by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine)

 

Read also:

 

EUIPO and UANIPIO welcome the integration of Ukraine’s trade marks into TMview

 

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