The progress of intellectual property law reform in Ukraine, the development of IP law in the European Union, law enforcement, technical assistance – these and other issues were discussed at the 21st meeting of the annual Intellectual Property Rights Dialogue (IPR Dialogue) between Ukraine and the EU.
The IPR Dialogue is part of the broader cooperation between the European Commission and the Government of Ukraine and took place on 22 October 2024.
The event was joined by representatives of the European Commission:
The EU Delegation to Ukraine joined the Dialogue:
Representatives of key stakeholders informed the European side about the main achievements in the Ukrainian IP sphere:
The event was attended by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine:
The Ukrainian IP Office was presented at the IPR Dialogue:
In his opening remarks, Jorge Vitorino noted that today’s Dialogue is a testament to the strengthening of cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, which is based on the common understanding that strengthening the protection and enforcement of IP rights is not only a legal obligation, but also a key driver of innovation and international cooperation. Ukraine has made good progress in implementing international standards in the field of intellectual property. These efforts demonstrate Ukraine’s commitment to modernising its legal system in the face of significant challenges.
The EU side offered an overview of the developments in the EU, and in that context presented the Recommendation to combat counterfeiting adopted in March this year, as well as the work currently underway on Counterfeiting and Piracy Watchlist and Third Country Report which are both envisaged for publication in 2025. To conclude, the EU welcomed the launching, in early 2024, of the EU4IP project which builds on previous EU technical assistance and provides support to Ukraine to strengthen its national IP landscape and to facilitate the alignment of its IP legal and administrative frameworks to the EU systems as it works towards EU accession.
According to Vitaly Kindrativ, who heads the Ukrainian delegation, the devastating effects of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine on intellectual property, creative and innovative sectors and other areas of the economy continue to deepen. At the same time, Ukraine does not stop looking for a response to these challenges and continues to fulfil its tasks as a candidate country on the path to full EU membership.
Vitaly Kindrativ (centre), Dmytro Huzii and Alberto Fernández Díez.
The speaker noted that since the last Dialogue in October 2023 Ukraine has continued to build on our progress towards aligning national legislation and practice with the EU acquis, while keeping in mind the capacities and competences of national institutions. As part of these activities, the Government of Ukraine approved 17 new bylaws, including 9 developed by the Ministry of Economy and 6 by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
In addition, Vitaly Kindrativ noted that in 2025-2026, it is planned to develop new edition of special laws on certain IP objects for further implementation of the EU acquis provisions, taking into account the results of the official screening.
The meeting was moderated by Dmytro Huzii on the Ukrainian side. According to him, one of the main achievements of Ukraine is the adoption of a number of bylaws that deepen and improve the developments noted by the European side following the amendments to national legislation in the IP sphere in 2021-2022.
Inna Shatova spoke in more detail about the acts in the field of copyright, industrial property, as well as the acts regulating the activities of National IP Authority collegial bodies.
Bogdan Paduchak highlighted the problems of implementing legislation during martial law. He reminded that Ukraine has the Law on Protection of Intellectual Property Interests during Martial Law, which provides certain benefits for applicants for IP-related actions.
At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has registered the main draft law and two alternative draft laws aimed at amending the Law in order to balance the private interests of applicants, rights holders and the state as a whole.
Bogdan Paduchak and Olena Orliuk
Also, the First Deputy Director of the IP Office focused on the issue of implementation of the sanctions legislation adopted in Ukraine, noting:
“We are grateful to the EU for the adoption of the 14th sanctions package, which helps to protect the IP sector operating in the legal framework from the actions of the aggressor.”
Bogdan Paduchak also added that a number of Ukraine’s bylaws contain “sanctions clauses” against persons associated with the aggressor country, and cited relevant statistics:
“If the IP Office establishes the fact that sanctions have been imposed on the applicant (or the applicant’s state), the proceedings on this application are carried out taking into account the specific type of sanction imposed. As of 10 October 2024, the IP Office has summarised information on the application of sanctions against more than 30 thousand individuals and legal entities. Out of this amount of information, 475 applications for registration of intellectual property rights were identified and blocked, 485 registration were blocked in respect of 119 legal entities and 56 individuals.“
Alina Babaieva, a representative of the Ministry of Economy, informed the European colleagues about the most recent changes in the field of copyright.
Oleksii Ardanov spoke about the new procedure for copyright registration and the activities of the IP office. According to him, in addition to copyright registration, the IP Office provides clarifications on the new Law of Ukraine “On Copyright and Related Rights”.
“The IP Office responds to modern trends and the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, so we allow AI-generated objects to be included in a work. At the same time, we encourage authors to identify the generated objects they add to a copyright work in order to avoid unfair applications for copyright registration,” explained the Head of the Copyright and Related Rights Unit of the IP Office.
Oleksandra Kosenko, Oleksii Ardanov and Inna Shatova.
Oleksii Ardanov also spoke in more detail about the register of orphan works maintained by the IP Office and the WIPO Alert initiative, the practice of which is currently being developed. He added that the process of improving the copyright sphere is ongoing – the IP Office is working on the scope of norms that Ukraine needs to implement on its way to becoming a full member of the EU.
Bogdan Paduchak informed the European Commission that the Rules on Inventions and Utility Models are expected to come into force in the near future.
The Rules contain, inter alia, clarified provisions on drafting and conducting examination of biotechnological inventions, detailed provisions on new opportunities under the law, such as observations on the patentability of an invention, objections to an application, information search, including at the request of any person, and set out the procedure for examining a patent for an invention in order to grant supplementary protection.
In addition, the Ministry of Economy, taking into account the proposals of the IP Office, has developed a draft Procedure for consideration of a request for supplementary protection of rights to an invention. In September 2024, this document was published on the official website of the Ministry of Economy for discussion.
“In the process of drafting these bylaws, thanks to technical consultations with the European Patent Office, we also managed to identify several challenges to harmonisation of invention protection practices,” said the First Deputy Director of the IP Office.
Among the issues that were in the focus of the European Commission’s interest:
“These issues have been the subject of technical consultations with the EPO and will be further considered in the development of a new edition of the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Rights to Inventions and Utility Models” in order to create greater legal certainty and clarity of understanding of stakeholders,” assured Bogdan Paduchak.
Ihor Vishtak, Director of the Agrarian Development Department of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, spoke about the bylaws to the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Rights to Plant Varieties”.
Olena Orliuk spoke about the activities of the Ukrainian IP Office, cooperation with the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
“Since the last IPR Dialogue in October 2023, in addition to the rapid pace of development and approval of implementing legislation, the Ministry of Economy and the IP Office have been systematically working to strengthen institutional capacity in the field of intellectual property, accumulating progress in institutional reform and improving law enforcement and public awareness of IP rights,” said the Director of the IP Office.
Olena Orliuk
According to her, the IP Office acts not only as a patent or copyright office, but also as an institution that works to develop an innovative and creative environment, as well as to deepen communication with key stakeholders. In particular, the IP Office is involved in the transformation of IP-related processes initiated by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
Olena Orliuk informed about the development of draft Methodological Recommendations (Guidelines) on Certain Issues of Examination of Trademark Applications (on compliance with the conditions for granting legal protection to a sign containing or derived from a geographical indication). In order to apply the European practice of consultations with the professional community to obtain feedback and comments, the draft Methodological Recommendations were published on the website of the IP Office and sent to professional organisations and business associations.
“This is only the beginning of the public work on the development of the Guidelines, which continues with regard to other issues and objects of intellectual property rights. And this work largely depends on legislative development and approval of bylaws. However, we are already using the relevant EUIPO and EPO Guidelines as an absolute reference point,” said Olena Orliuk.
Among the main achievements of the IP office since the last IPR Dialogue Olena Orliuk highlighted the following:
“Since July 2024, we have been testing the system of Objective and Key Results and Key Performance Indicators (KPI/OKR) to assess the effectiveness of the structural units of the IP Office and the successful achievement of the tasks set out in the Strategic Development Plan for 2024-2028,” Olena Orliuk informed.
She also spoke about the main successes of the key structural units of the IP Office and the activities of the collegial bodies that started their work in 2024: The Appeals Chamber, the Ukraine Commission, as well as the start of the process of certification of candidates for patent attorneys. A significant emphasis was placed on the international cooperation and activities of the IP Office implemented within the framework of cooperation with EUIPO and EPO, as well as IP offices of European countries.
“We will be grateful for the EU’s continued support and assistance to the IP sector on the way to Ukraine’s full membership in the EU,” concluded Olena Orliuk.
Simona Seikite, Co-Chair of the IPR Dialogue, praised the achievements of the Ukrainian IP Office, which were made in a fairly short period of time, and congratulated on the approval of the Strategic Development Plan of the organisation and establishment of strong ties with European organisations in the field of intellectual property. According to her, a modern, accessible, efficiently functioning IP Office is the core of the country’s efficiently functioning IP system.
In the context of the discussion on the development and strengthening of the institutional framework, Ihor Benedysiuk, Judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Secretary of the Judicial Chamber for Intellectual Property and Antitrust and Competition Law, informed the European colleagues about the current stage of the candidates competition to the High IP Court.
Special attention of the IPR Dialogue participants was focused on the activities of law enforcement agencies in Ukraine in investigating cases related to infringement of IP rights.
Viktor Baiov, a representative of the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine, and Iryna Hermaniuk, a representative of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, spoke about the problems of physical and online markets and seizures of counterfeit products.
Oksana Pashchenko, a representative of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, shared with the participants of the Dialogue the measures taken at the state customs border, as well as updated information on the implementation of software and information services provided to right holders.
Discussing the issues of IP protection, cooperation with law enforcement agencies and national mechanisms for combating counterfeiting and piracy, Oleksandra Kosenko spoke about the activities of the Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Monitoring Centre, which serves as a platform for the main stakeholders with the authority to enforce IP rights in Ukraine.
For reference:
The EU-Ukraine IPR Dialogue was launched in 2006 to address issues in the field of intellectual property that are of mutual interest to the Ukrainian and European parties.
In accordance with Article 252(3) of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the Dialogue is subordinated to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee in Trade Configuration. The Dialogue meets at least once a year. They are organised by the Ukrainian and European sides in turn.
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