What is the level of the IP national industrial property legislation alignment with the EU law? What are Ukraine’s institutional capacities in the fields of patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications registration, as well as in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies? What are Ukraine’s further plans to harmonize its IP protection and enforcement practices?
These and other issues were discussed on December 11, 2024 during a bilateral meeting between Ukraine and the European Commission as part of the screening of the alignment of Ukrainian legislation with the EU acquis under Chapter 7 “Intellectual Property Law”. The screening is an integral part of the negotiation process for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. The bilateral meeting lasted two days (December 10-11, 2024) in a hybrid format.
Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation in Brussels
At the beginning of the meeting, the representatives of the European Union noted the effectiveness and productivity of the previous day of negotiations, which focused on copyright and related rights. They also stressed that Ukraine has made significant steps in implementing international standards in the national IP landscape. As the process of the EU integration (especially in such a complex and comprehensive sphere as intellectual property) will be accompanied by challenges, the European colleagues encouraged the Ukrainian side to continue consulting with representatives of the cross – sectoral services, projects and colleagues from the EU Delegation, the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO) and other European institutions.
It was also stressed that Ukraine, unfortunately, remains one of the transit points for the supply of counterfeit goods to the EU, and this is a matter of great concern. Developing effective mechanisms to combat this negative phenomenon is part of a long-term dialogue. In this context, representatives of the European Commission stressed the need to establish the High IP Court in Ukraine.
EU representatives called for the lifting of all restrictions and the resumption of all possible activities in the IP sphere, which had been suspended as a result of the restrictions imposed by the martial law regime.
Representatives of the European Commission also pointed out that integration with the EU is not only an obligation but also a great opportunity for Ukraine. In addition, they informed their Ukrainian colleagues about the main provisions of the EU Design Law Reform Package, which must be adapted into the national legislation of the Member States by December 2027.
The Directorate General for Internal Markets, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) also thanked Ukraine for its joint work, in particular within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization, noting that Ukraine is already a member of the Team Europe in the international arena.
The Head of the Ukrainian delegation, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine – Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna expressed belief that following the two-day discussions, the negotiators would find a way to a roadmap further implementation and harmonization with the EU law as soon as possible. She also reiterated the position she had announced the day before regarding the possibility of accelerated integration and the need for detailed preparation for accession to the European Patent Convention.
The Ukrainian delegation in Brussels included representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine – Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO/IP Office), the Government Office for the Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the Supreme Court, the Scientific-Research Institute of Intellectual Property of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine.
Vitaliy Kindrativ, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Deputy Head of the delegation, and Dmytro Huzii, Acting Head of the Intellectual Property and Innovations Division of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine also took part in the screening meeting.
UANIPIO is represented in Brussels:
The UANIPIO’s Director Olena Orliuk and representatives of the following institutions joined the meeting online:
During the second day of the screening, issues related to trademarks, industrial designs, craft and industrial geographical indications, patents (including unitary patents), and certificates of supplementary protection were discussed. In addition, the issue of the national IP legislation alignment with the EU acquis was discussed:
These issues were presented by:
Igor Benedysiuk, Secretary of the Judicial Chamber on Cases on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and Cases Related with Anti-Monopoly and Competition Legislation of the Commercial Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, answered the questions of the European Commission on practical issues of the judicial protection of rights to trade secrets and prevention of their disclosure.
With regards to the enforcement, administrative and enforcement capacity and fighting corruption in copyright and related rights, industrial property rights and enforcement of IP rights were discussed. Vladyslav Bilotskyi and Oleksandra Kosenko presented these issues.
Special attention of the European Commission representatives was focused on the need to establishment of the High IP Court. Roman Sabodash, Member of the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ), informed that the HQCJ would return to this issue immediately after the competition for 550 vacant positions of judges in the courts of appeal is completed.
They also discussed in detail the principles of anti-corruption activities of the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations, the institutional and human resources potential of the agency in view of European integration challenges.
In particular, Olena Orliuk, Director of the IP Office, noted that many measures have been implemented to align with anti-corruption legislation: from the Code of Corporate Ethics and the anti-corruption programme to anti-corruption clauses in draft contracts, and deepening cooperation with anti-corruption authorities of Ukraine.
“The IP office administration and heads of our structural units submit declarations, we check candidates for the positions at the IP office and business partners. In addition, the IP office has received certificates of conformity for its anti-corruption management system. Currently, the draft Anti-Corruption Programme of the UANIPIO for 2025-2027 is under public discussion”, – Director of the IP Office informed the European Commission representatives.
She noted that the IP Office carries out transparent procurement with a multi-stage level of control and audit.
“We also strictly adhere to financial discipline, having conducted a mandatory external annual audit of financial statements, which revealed no violations. We regularly report to both regulatory authorities and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine in accordance with the current legislation, as we operate with public resources”,- added Olena Orliuk.
For more information:
Screening is a formal procedure during which the European Commission, together with a candidate country for EU membership, analyses the compliance of the candidate country’s national legislation with the relevant EU acquis. The screening takes place under 33 negotiating chapters, which are grouped into 6 clusters (thematic blocks) in accordance with the revised EU enlargement methodology in 2020. Chapter 7 “Intellectual Property Law” is considered under Cluster 2 “Internal Market”.
In order to prepare materials for the screening, the Government of Ukraine engaged more than 30 state agencies, scientific institutions, and associations dealing with intellectual property issues.
In addition, projects funded by the European Union and its member states were involved, including the EU4IP project, GiZ and CPVA assistance projects. The EUIPO and the European Patent Office (EPO) have played an important role in strengthening Ukraine’s European integration efforts.
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