The development of the intellectual property (IP) sphere in Ukraine must continue despite the full-scale russian invasion. This requires the cooperation and support of international partners, particularly the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The aggressor is using IP as a weapon, and that must be changed. In particular, to build an IP environment that would support innovation and creative industries but not kill their source. This was emphasized by Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksandr Gryban and representatives of the IP Office at a meeting with WIPO Director General Daren Tang.

“A sufficient level of IPR protection will help to improve the investment climate in Ukraine. And, taking into consideration the damage caused to our economy by russian aggression, investments can become the basis for rebuilding the state. That is why the effective functioning of the IP office, which should build a modern and comfortable environment for the state’s technological development, is so important. We are grateful to WIPO for the comprehensive support of the Ukrainian IP system. We hope that further cooperation will help Ukraine to maintain the economic front and function as a developed and innovative state”, said the Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Gryban.

The IP Office is making maximum efforts to fight the negative impacts of the war and help the Ukrainian IP community and the economy in general, its Head, Olena Orliuk, stressed:

“Our main priority is a high-quality service that will help Ukraine be innovative and reputationally attractive both for national business and countries that support us. We will try to achieve our goal through a new level of cooperation with WIPO, harmonization of legislation, borrowing best practices and processes, broad digitalization, maximum reduction of IP registration terms, development of tools to support innovators and businesses within the framework of Ukraine’s recovery plan, active educational and promotional activities and support of national security and defense sphere”.

Olena Orliuk also spoke about the Strategic Plan, which primarily involves cooperation with WIPO, member countries of the WIPO’s Regional Group of the Central European and Baltic States (CEBS), European partners, and the USA.

“We will invest all our efforts to effective implementation the General Assembly’s Decision on supporting Ukraine. We also want to reach a new quality level of joint projects implementation – the TISC network, IP Academy, promotion of IP mediation, etc. We managed to keep the entire pool of examiners, so the most important issue on the agenda will be extending our performance as the International Searching Authority and the International Preliminary Examining Authority (ISA/IPEA). We are ready to work on confirming this status and hope for support and help”, the Head of the IP Office emphasized.

Over the past six months, Ukraine has made significant progress in the development of the IP sphere, emphasized Bohdan Paduchak, Head of the advisors’ group of the IP Office:

“The law on copyright and related rights was adopted, the institutional reform of the IP sphere was implemented, the IP Office became operational, which task is not only improving the legal protection of IPR but also strengthening IP protection and raising IP awareness”.