Information about Ukrainian trademarks, industrial designs to be entered into European EUIPO databases

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (IP Office) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) signed a work plan for 2024-2025 on Monday in furtherance of the memorandum of mutual understanding on bilateral cooperation, while an EU delegation led by EUIPO Executive Director Joao Negrao visited Kiev.

"The plan [...] unlocks an opportunity to include information about Ukrainian trademarks and industrial designs in the EUIPO databases, which are the world's largest and comprise over 115 million trademarks and more than 20 million industrial designs from five continents," Ukrainian media said, citing a press release of the Economy Ministry published after the meeting and the document signing ceremony.

The IP Office will have the EU's support in the legal protection of trademarks and industrial designs, including intellectual property rights.

Additionally, the work plan envisages the EU's support for the IP Office in harmonizing the Ukrainian practices of registration and evaluation of trademark and industrial design applications with the respective EU practices. Harmonization of the kind will facilitate operations of Ukrainian business abroad.

A project of international cooperation in the field of intellectual property, which would involve Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, is being discussed in the context of broader EU initiatives of deeper integration of the IP Office in the EU intellectual property system.

The SME Fund - EUIPO - European Union was expanded in June 2023 to support Ukrainian enterprises, the Economy Ministry said. Now Ukrainian enterprises can now receive funding to apply for the acquisition of intellectual property rights, in particular for trademarks, industrial designs or inventions and utility models.

The EUIPO is a major decentralized agency of the European Union headquartered in Alicante, Spain. It registers EU trademarks (EUTM) and registered community designs (RCD) thus providing legal protection of intellectual property rights in all EU member states. The agency cooperates with national and regional intellectual property institutions in the European Union and coordinates the activity of the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.