Ukraine

GENERAL INFORMATION

Area: 603,628 sq. km.

Population: 33,443,000 (estimated October 2024, not taking into account the occupied territories).

Capital: Kyiv.

Language: Ukrainian (official), Russian.

Currency: Hryvnia.

 

GENERAL REMARKS

Ukraine is a country in central-eastern Europe and the second largest country in Europe after Russia. Ukraine became an independent State in August 1991 after the split of the USSR.

 

PATENTS OF INVENTION

LEGAL BASIS

• Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Rights to Inventions and Utility Models, in force since July 1, 1994, last amended on March 20, 2023.
• Rules for drawing up, submitting and conducting an examination of an application for an invention and an application for a utility model, approved by the order of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine dated September 9, 2024 No. 23301, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on September 18, 2024 under No. 1411/42756.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since December 25, 1991.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty, since December 25, 1991.
• (Not a member of Eurasian Patent Convention).

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Specification and abstract (to be translated into Ukrainian; if filed in another language, the translation must be submitted within two months from the filing date);
• Drawings (3 sets);
• Priority document, if any (to be filed within three months from the filing date).

 

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter I: 31 months; under Chapter II: 31 months.

Validity: issued after formal and full examination – valid for 20 years from the filing date.

Annuities: the first annuity for the current year in which the patent was granted is paid only after granting. It must be paid within four months from the publication of the mention of grant of a patent. Each next annuity must be paid within the last four months of the current year of the patent term.

Opposition: possible within six months from publication of the patent application; and post-grant within nine months from publication of the grant of the patent.

 

 

TRADE AND SERVICE MARKS

LEGAL BASIS

• Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Rights to Trademarks and Service Marks, in force since July 1, 1994, last amended on March 20, 2023.
• Rules for drawing up, filing an application for a trademark, an application for international registration of a trademark and conducting an examination of an application for a trademark, an international registration of a trademark with extension to Ukraine, approved by the order of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine dated August 6, 2024 No. 19889, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on August 19, 2024 under No. 1263/42608.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since December 25, 1991.
• Madrid Agreement, since December 25, 1991.
• Madrid Protocol, since December 29, 2000.

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (not legalized);
• Representation of the sign to be protected (size 8 x 8 cm); in case of a label, max. size 14 x 14 cm;
• 5 black & white prints if claimed in b&w; 10 prints in color if colors are claimed;
• List of goods and services;
• Priority document (if the priority is claimed, to be filed within three months from the filing date).

 

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: trade and service marks (word marks, design marks, three-dimensional and other distinctive combinations thereof, in color or color combinations). Sounds, light signals and colors may be protected. Besides the original version, filing of word mark applications in the Cyrillic alphabet is highly recommended.

Classification: International.

Obligation to use the registered mark: compulsory. Non-use during any five-year period after the registration date may lead to cancellation; nominal use (advertising, publications) is accepted in absence of actual use.

Duration – renewals: 10-year period after the filing date or last renewal date.

Opposition: possible within three months from publication of the trademark application.

 

 

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

LEGAL BASIS

• Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Rights to Industrial Designs, in force since July 1, 1994, last amended on March 20, 2023.
• Rules for drawing up and submitting an application for an industrial design and conducting an examination of an application for an industrial design and international registration of an industrial design, approved by the order of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine dated March 7, 2024 No. 6237, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on April 16, 2024 under No. 547/41892.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since December 25, 1991.
• Hague Agreement, since August 28, 2002, Geneva Act, since December 23, 2003.

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (not legalized);
• General view of the article (picture) and other views – 2 sets;
• Specification of the design – 1 set;
• Priority document, if any (to be filed within three months from the filing date).

 

REMARKS

Duration – renewals: after formal and novelty examination: 5 years; Extension: four additional 5-year periods.

Opposition: possible, before court only.

 

 

DOMAIN NAMES

LEGAL BASIS

• There is no specific legislation. The delegation of domain names in the country code top-level domain is regulated by the “Rules of the .UA domain” and Rules in the domain zone .УКР (Cyrillic).

 

FILING

• ccTLD: .ua and .ykp
• Applicant: individuals and legal entities.
• Local presence: not required.

 

REMARKS

Duration – renewals: one year, renewable yearly.

Uniform dispute resolution procedure: available for .ua and .com.ua (variation of UDRP named UA-DRP) before WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.

 

 

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