The WIPO International Bureau will continue to provide concrete assistance and support to Ukraine, as set out in Section 7 “Conclusions” of the “Report on Assistance and Support to Ukraine’s Innovation and Creative Sector and the Intellectual Property System”. It also recognizes the negative consequences of the war started by the russian federation.

This is stated in the decision adopted during the 64th series of meetings of the WIPO Assemblies. It also commits to present an updated report at the next series of meetings of the Assemblies in 2024, thereby keeping the issue of Ukraine relevant at WIPO meetings.

This decision was made in difficult discussions with significant resistance from the russian delegation. After the presentation of the Report on Assistance and Support to Ukraine on the sidelines of the 64th series of meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, statements of solidarity with Ukraine and condemnation of the aggressive war of the russian federation, difficult negotiations began on the adoption of a decision based on the results of this discussion (Agenda item 21).

For the Ukrainian delegation and like-minded countries, it was important to reflect in the decision the confirmation of the negative impact of the russian federation’s war on the innovation and creative sectors and the IP system of Ukraine, their further monitoring, as well as the approval of further support for our country by the WIPO International Bureau.

After two days of intense discussions between the regional groups coordinators, WIPO Member States, the Secretariat, the WIPO Chair and the WIPO Director General, representatives of the russian federation, their supporters and proxies, opposed the draft decision.

The decision was adopted only by a vote, which is not a common practice for the WIPO General Assembly decision-making process (usually adopted by consensus), and which took place well after the estimated closing time of the session. Moreover, such a decision required a 2/3 majority.

According to the results of the vote, which was initiated by Poland as the CEBS group coordinator (which includes Ukraine): out of 106 countries that voted, 27 abstained, 11 were against and 68 were in favour of the decision.

We received the greatest support from Group B countries, the CEBS group and EU member states. At the same time, the 11 countries that voted against were: the russian federation, Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Syria, and Venezuela.

“This decision shows that through close coordination with like-minded countries, we are able to prevent russia from maintaining its influence on the platforms of international organisations, in particular, WIPO,” said Olena Orliuk, The Director of the Ukrainian IP Office.

Ukraine’s achievement of another positive result at the UN Specialized International IP Platform conducted largely due to the active professional position of Yevheniia Filipenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, and Ramiz Ramazanov, Mission Counsellor.

The decision also strengthens the areas of future cooperation reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and WIPO, with a focus on mitigating the negative effects of the war and restoring Ukraine’s innovation and creative ecosystem.

A video of the discussion and decision-making process is available here.

Photo: WIPO