On 13 June 2024, another round of negotiations took place between Ukraine and the states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regarding the revision of the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EFTA Member States.

During the second round of negotiations on revising provisions of Chapter 5 and Annex XIII “Protection of Intellectual Property” of the Agreement (link in Ukrainian), the parties discussed the following issues:

• standards of geographical indications, indications of origin and names of states protection;
• mutual recognition and protection of geographical indications, names of the place of origin of goods and indications of origin;
• obtaining and maintaining the validity of intellectual property rights;
• intellectual property rights enforcement.

On the Ukrainian side, the following persons participated in negotiating:

• Inna Shatova, Deputy Head of Intellectual Property and Innovations Department – Head of the State Intellectual Property Policy Unit of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine;
• Mykola Pototskyy, Advisor to the Director of the Ukrainian IP Office;
• Tetiana Terekhova, Head of the Unit for Rights to Designations within the Industrial Property Development Department of the Ukrainian IP Office.

Obligations on mutual recognition and protection of geographical indications, appellations of origin and indications of origin provide for the exchange of relevant names lists, images of coats of arms, flags and other state symbols of the Parties to the Agreement. Indications of origin and depictions of state symbols should be legally protected in the territories of the Parties from any direct or indirect commercial use for goods that do not originate from the country or region concerned, or use for services in a manner that does not comply with the requirements of the domestic legislation of the Party to which the relevant indication of origin relates.

In turn, the legal regime of a registered geographical indication of the Parties will provide a level of legal protection that meets the requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

For instance, geographical indications of the Parties will be protected from:

• any direct or indirect commercial use in relation to goods related to those for which the protection was provided to the geographical indication, as well as in relation to unrelated goods and services, if such use may harm the interests of users or lead to abuse of the reputation of the geographical indication;

• any other practice that may mislead consumers as to the true place of origin or characteristics of the goods.

“We are committed to developing the legal framework and creating new opportunities for mutual protection and enforcement of geographical indications, designations of origin and country names. The agreement establishes mutual obligations of Ukraine and the EFTA States regarding legal means that allow preventing the use of designations of origin, including in the form of trademarks, commercial names, industrial designs, names of legal entities, etc., in a manner that misleads the public about the geographical origin of products” – noted Mykola Pototskyy.

For reference:

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a free trade area that unites the customs territories of four European countries that have not joined the EU: the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation.

The Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EFTA States is an international agreement, concluded on 24 June 2010 in Reykjavík and ratified by the Law of Ukraine of 7 December 2011, “On the Ratification of the Agreement on Free Trade between Ukraine and the EFTA States, the Agreement on agriculture between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Norway, Agreements on agriculture between Ukraine and Iceland and Agreements on agriculture between Ukraine and the Swiss Confederation,” No. 4091.

Further readings:

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and the IP Office participated in negotiations to revise specific provisions of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EFTA States

Harmonization of legislation with the EU acquis is the basis for innovative development and economic recovery of the country, – Olena Orliuk at the meeting with European colleagues

EU-Ukraine: Explanatory meeting on intellectual property within the official screening of European Commission