What progress has been made in 2024 within the framework of the EU4IP project to strengthen intellectual property rights in Ukraine? What are the key priorities for 2025? And how can the project support the national IP system on its way to harmonizing legislation and practices with EU law?

 

These and other issues were in the focus of this year final meeting between the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO/IP Office) representatives and the EU4IP project team, which was initiated by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), is a four-year project funded by the European Union. The online meeting was held on December 19, 2024.

 

The EU4IP project team took part in the meeting:

 

• Ibon Ormazabal, EU4IP Project Leader;

 

• Raúl Villar, Project Officer;

 

• Mathilde Peninque, Project Officer

 

UANIPIO was presented at the meeting by:

 

• Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director;

 

• Andrii Zozuliuk, Head of the International Cooperation Department;

 

• Maryna Hepenko, leading IP professional, International Cooperation Department.

 

The participants of the meeting discussed the progress made during the implementation of the project and the status of activities aimed at achieving the expected results:

 

• enhancing legal and policy frameworks, supporting the EU accession process, implementing IP provisions of (international) trade agreements.

 

• strengthening IP institutions, networks, and tools for an efficient IP protection system, with a view to EU membership.

 

• raising awareness on the value of IP and capacity of SMEs and the productive sector to protect, administer, commercialise, and enforce their IP rights.

 

• increasing cooperation on enforcing IP rights in line with the Association Agreement’s commitments and priorities of the accession process.

 

The key topic of discussion was the bilateral screening meeting between Ukraine and the European Commission on the alignment of the Ukrainian IP legislation with the EU acquis, which took place recently (December 10-11, 2024) in Brussels (Belgium).

 

The European colleagues drew attention to the positive response of the European Commission representatives to the level of preparation of materials by the Ukrainian side under negotiating chapter 7 “Intellectual Property Law”.

 

At the same time, the UANIPIO representatives expressed their gratitude to the European colleagues for the expert support of the involved international specialists within the EU4IP project, participation in the mock sessions and the opportunity to exchange experience and best European practices.

 

They also discussed the commitment to provide further support in developing a comprehensive vision of a sustainable and effective system of European norms implementation. In particular, the participants of the meeting agreed on the need to further engage European experts in the field of trademarks, patents, industrial designs, copyright and related rights, collective management organizations, and trade secrets legal regulation to ensure a more targeted approach to resolving problematic issues in national legislation in accordance with EU Directives and Regulations.

 

It was also emphasized that integration into TMView and DesignView is a priority for further progress in harmonization and cooperation.

 

They emphasized the need for Ukrainian experts to participate in EUIPO working groups on the legal regulation of trademarks, EU industrial designs, the development of Common Practices, as well as further participation in the activities of the EUIPN and EIPPN networks.

 

The discussion also focused on Ukrainian geographical indications and their preservation, enforcement, protection within the European market, and popularization in the face of the Russian war of aggression. They mentioned the Russian cynical attempt to steal “Melitopol cherry”, which is a Ukrainian geographical indication.

 

Bogdan Paduchak emphasized the importance of implementing the 14th sanctions package against Russia and expressed gratitude for the attention to this issue, which is of strategic importance for Ukraine:

 

“Together, we will be able to more effectively confront the challenges faced by the Ukrainian intellectual property sphere in response to Russian aggression and jointly counteract violations of international humanitarian law”.

 

In addition, the participants drew attention to the possibility of the Ukrainian higher education institutions’ participation in the Pan-European Seal Program, which envisages strengthening and developing sustainable interaction and connections between the academic community and the intellectual property labor market, raising the level of legal culture, deepening knowledge in the IP field and sharing experience through internships, study visits, joint conferences, etc.

 

In conclusion, the parties emphasized the need to deepen cooperation to strengthen intellectual property rights in Ukraine and to cooperate even more effectively with EUIPO.

 

Read also:

 

EU-UA: bilateral screening meeting on the alignment of the Ukrainian IP legislation with the EU acquis – focus on industrial property and enforcement

 

Cross regional online workshop: Ukrainian IP Office shared its experience on adapting communication content for different audiences