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  • The Ukrainian delegation joined the work of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of WIPO
    01 April 2025 No Comments Олексенко Олексій

    The Ukrainian delegation joined the work of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of WIPO

     

    Representatives of the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO/IP Office) took an active part in the 48th session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

     

    The Standing Committee was held on 24-27 March 2025 at WIPO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

     

     

    The Ukrainian delegation included:

     

    • Tetiana Terekhova, Head of the Trademarks and Geographical indications Law Unit, Industrial Property Development Department, UANIPIO;

     

    • Tetiana Babenko, Head of the Trademark Applications Qualification Examination Unit No. 2, examination of trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications applications Division, Examination of Industrial Property Rights Applications Department, UANIPIO.

     

    Statement of the Ukrainian delegation

     

    In her statement on behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, Tetiana Terekhova first of all thanked the representatives of the WIPO Standing Committee for their work and support of Ukraine, as well as WIPO Member States for their commitment to strengthening the international system of trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications legal protection – in particular, by developing joint recommendations on the protection of graphical user interface designs as industrial designs and by resolving the important issue of protection of country names and geographical names of national significance.

     

    The representative of the Ukrainian delegation draw attention to the ongoing and blatant violations of international humanitarian law by one of WIPO’s Member States:

     

    «More than three years have passed since the russian federation launched its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which became the expansion of russian armed aggression that began in 2014. russians have not changed its demands regarding Ukraine and continues to intimidate and terrorize Ukrainian civilians, by targeting critical infrastructure and residential areas with missiles, bombs and drones, causing significant casualties and destruction».

     

    She noted that on the night of March 23 this year, a massive russian drone attack on Kyiv killed three civilians, including a father and his 5-year-old daughter – and caused multiple strikes and fires in residential buildings, with dozens of drones deliberately targeting the capital’s civilian infrastructure.

     

    “Moreover, russia continues to misuse WIPO platforms to legitimize its military occupation, including providing false information about the addresses of applicants from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine through the Madrid and Hague systems. We demand that Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders be fully acknowledged in all IP-related contexts, WIPO registries and global services, which is particularly important following the decision of last year’s WIPO General Assembly”, – called the representative of UANIPIO.

     

    Tetyana Terekhova also emphasized that as russia continues its cultural genocide aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity, it must bear full legal responsibility for all internationally wrongful acts, including compensation for damage to Ukraine’s intellectual property, innovation, and creative sectors. While deliberately continuing its war of aggression against Ukraine, russia must also be denied any privileges or honors within WIPO.

     

    Support of the world

     

    The statement of the Ukrainian delegation was supported by the member states of the CEBS group. In particular, representatives of Estonia condemned the war and called on russia to stop its war of aggression against Ukraine.

     

     

    The Polish representatives also delivered a statement from like-minded countries supporting Ukraine. The statement was supports by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

     

    The group of like-minded countries fully condemned russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which has caused widespread destruction and humanitarian losses, including intellectual property sphere. Member-states welcome WIPO’s decision to support Ukraine’s IP system and call for its full implementation. They underline the need for further WIPO assistance to rebuild Ukraine’s innovation and creative sectors. The countries also express their unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, demand the russian federation to immediately stop its war and stress the need for it to be held fully accountable for its crimes. The group supports international initiatives to establish a fair peace with Ukraine at the center of the process.

     

    Statements condemning the war and supporting Ukraine in its national capacity were also announced by representatives of Canada and Australia.

     

     

    Topics of the session

     

    The draft agenda of the Committee included discussion of the following topical issues:

     

    1. Industrial designs

     

    •  Industrial Design Protection for Designs for Graphical User Interfaces;

     

    • Study of the significance of the protection of graphical user interface designs as industrial designs;

     

    • Updated information from Member States on the Digital Access Service for Priority Documents.

     

    2. Trademarks

     

    • Examination Guidelines for Trademarks Which Consist of or Contain Country Names or Geographical Names of National Significance;

     

    • Joint Recommendation concerning provisions on the protection of country names;

     

    • Protection of country names and nationally significant geographical names in the domain name system;

     

    • Discussion of aspects of the domain name system related to trademarks;

     

    • Proposal for the introduction of a unified system for the recognition and protection of national brands of the participating states.

     

    3. Geographical Indications

     

    • Development of national and international legislation on the legal protection of geographical indications.

     

    Two information sessions on the protection of geographical indications were also held within the framework of the SCT 48 session on the following topics:

     

    • The value of geographical indications around the world;

     

    •  Recognition of geographical indications as valid rights in domain name dispute resolution procedures.

     

    Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Emmanuel Berrod.

     

    Read also:

     

    UANIPIO is grateful to EUIPO for the extension of time limits for communication with Ukrainian applicants

     

    Gender gap in industrial designs of Central European and Baltic States: Liubov Maidanyk joined the presentation of the WIPO study and spoke about the UANIPIO’s initiatives

     

    Олексенко Олексій
    Олексенко Олексій
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