• The Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) agreed on a number of measures to support the process of Ukraine’s integration into the EU
• Signing of the Work Plan for 2024 and 2025 for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation between the UANIPIO and the EUIPO took place during the visit of the EU delegation led by João Negrão, Executive Director of the EUIPO, to Kyiv
• The UANIPIO will receive support from the EU in matters related to the legal protection of trademarks and industrial designs, including the protection of IP rights

Today’s meeting, organized with the support of the EU Representation in Ukraine, brought together representatives of the EUIPO, the UANIPIO, the European Intellectual Property Offices of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, as well as the State Agency for Intellectual Property of Moldova (AGEPI).

The purpose of the meeting is to strengthen cooperation between the EUIPO, national IP offices of the EU countries, the AGEPI and the UANIPIO, as well as to exchange views on promoting the initiatives of the UANIPIO and the Ukrainian IP community with the aim of bringing Ukraine closer to joining the EU and joining the Intellectual Property Network of the European Union (Union IP Network (EUIPN)) - a network consisting of the EUIPO and national IP offices of the EU. This cooperation is formalized in the form of the Work Plan for 2024 and 2025 for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation between the UANIPIO and the EUIPO, signed in Geneva in July 2023. The objectives of the meeting include discussing the significant impact of the ongoing aggressive war on Ukraine’s intellectual property sphere, emphasizing the urgent need to consolidate joint efforts to address challenges and mitigate negative consequences. In addition, the purpose of the visit is to study the role of intellectual property and innovation in the post-war reconstruction of the country and improvement of the investment climate in Ukraine.

The two-year plan was signed by Olena Orliuk, Director of the UANIPIO, and João Negrão, Executive Director of the EUIPO.

“Intellectual property and innovations in the context of Ukraine’s acquisition of the status of a candidate for EU membership have a decisive role. By harmonizing rules and procedures in these areas, we not only open Ukraine to the world as an innovative and creative nation, but also significantly improve its investment attractiveness. And the innovative post-war reconstruction of Ukraine will largely depend on how effective we are in this. It is especially valuable that João Negrão, Executive Director of the EUIPO, made his first foreign visit in his new position to Ukraine. This shows the high level of support for Ukraine by our partners,” Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine, said.

“Today, not only current challenges are on the agenda, but also the formation of a vision of a common future, in which intellectual property and innovation will play a decisive role. The key to the stability of the economic infrastructure and competitive Ukraine is the effective protection of IP and innovations. Decisions and documents of today’s meetings will effectively contribute to this. We greatly appreciate the help of our reliable partners on this difficult but irreversible path,” Olena Orliuk, Director of the UANIPIO, noted.

“The work plan agreed today in Kyiv not only emphasizes the commitment of the EUIPO and EU national agencies in supporting our Ukrainian partners on the eve of joining the EU, but also strengthens our role as an effective mediator for Ukraine in dialogue with EU partners,” João Negrão, Executive Director of the EUIPO, added.

“Strengthening the protection of intellectual property is important not only in the context of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but also for the more urgent needs of recovery: without a strong intellectual property ecosystem, the number of foreign investors will not be sufficient. It is important to protect investment, promote innovation, stimulate economic growth and create jobs. What we have agreed on today demonstrates our commitment to supporting Ukraine on its path to EU membership and facilitating its becoming a country with a modern and prosperous economy,” Rémi Duflot, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, summarized.

On the way to Ukraine’s integration into the EU intellectual property system

The work plan for 2024-2025 will allow UANIPIO to benefit from EU support in areas related to the management of intellectual property rights: tools for examination purposes, support in harmonizing the practice of registration and examination of applications for trademarks and industrial designs with EU practice, opportunities for training personnel and cooperation.

The plan also includes such measures as the mutual exchange of information on research related to the impact of intellectual property on the economy, as well as law enforcement and the fight against fraud. In addition, it opens up opportunities to include data on Ukrainian trademarks and industrial designs in the EUIPO databases, which are the largest in the world and include more than 115 million trademarks and more than 20 million industrial designs from five continents.

It is expected that the implementation of tools and practice of acquiring legal protection for intellectual property of the EUIPO and IP offices of the EU will contribute to the attraction of foreign investments and help Ukrainian businesses to work abroad. The work plan will be considered in the context of the Dialogue on Intellectual Property Issues between Ukraine and the EU, which analyzes the progress in reforming the sphere of intellectual property with the aim of implementing the relevant ambitions necessary for future EU membership.

As part of the larger EU initiatives to deepen the integration of the UANIPIO into the EU IP system, a project of international cooperation in the field of IP with the participation of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia is also being discussed.

Support of Ukraine by the EU in the field of intellectual property

In 2022, the EUIPO implemented measures to provide support to Ukrainian owners of trademarks and industrial designs and the protection of relevant rights in the EU, while continuing technical work and cooperation with the bodies of the state system of legal protection of intellectual property.

The work plan is also based on the fundamental agreement reached in February 2023 between the European Commission and Ukraine, which allows the latter to participate in activities financed by the European Union under the Single Market program.

In June 2023, the EUIPO and European Commission SME Fund was expanded to support Ukrainian enterprises, which may now receive funding to apply for intellectual property rights, including trademarks, industrial designs or inventions and utility models.

About the EUIPO

The EUIPO is one of the EU’s largest decentralized offices, located in Alicante, Spain. Recognized in 2021 as the most innovative intellectual property office in the world, the EUIPO carries out the registration of European Union trademarks (EUTM) and registered Community designs (RCD), which provides the possibility of obtaining legal protection of relevant intellectual property in all EU member states. The department also cooperates with national and regional intelligence agencies property of the EU and coordinates the activities of the European Observatory on Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights.

About the UANIPIO

In 2022, Ukraine completed the institutional reform of the IP sphere and the implementation of the relevant legislation. The result of the reform was the creation of the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation (UANIPIO, IP office). The UANIPIO functions as a client-oriented state service, the activity of which is based on the principles of transparency, professionalism, decency and support. It is an ecosystem of intellectual property protection and innovation for a creative cluster, which, in turn, will become an investment magnet. The UANIPIO performs the functions of ISA/IPEA. Recently, the UANIPIO launched a full-fledged Mediation Center. This is a new tool for the Ukrainian IP system, which functions in all developed countries of the world.