Parliamentary Hearings on Intellectual Property - “Building an Effective Intellectual Property Protection System in Ukraine”

On December 16, 2019, the Parliamentary Hearings on Intellectual Property - “Building an Effective Intellectual Property Protection System in Ukraine” took place at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the first time since 2007. The hearings were attended by experts in the field of intellectual property, representatives of public institutions, business, people's deputies, representatives of central executive authorities, line ministries and agencies. Representatives from the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Patent Office also participated in the discussion.
From the tribune of the Verkhovna Rada spoke one of the most experienced representatives of the intellectual property of Ukraine - managing partner "Dubinsky and Osharova" Michael Doubinsky.
In his speech, he talked about ways to adecide the problems that exist in the intellectual property protection system and to implement reform in that system.

The key issues of his speech were:

- the creation of a National Intellectual Property Authority as a single, powerful, professional body that should integrate all the functions of the State in the field of intellectual property;
- completion of the process of establishing the High Court on Intellectual Property;
- completion of the adoption of the Intellectual Property Strategy and its implementation in the legislation of Ukraine;
- maintaining the status of Ukrpatent as an international search and examination body;
- prevention of the use of manipulative technologies to amend intellectual property law (in particular, this concerns legislation on the protection of inventions and utility models).

Michael Doubinsky also stressed that there are still a number of debatable issues that need a thorough study, namely:

- what principle of exhaustion of trademark rights should be fastened - national or international?
- how to strike a balance between public and private interest?
- the possibility of reviewing international treaties and agreements in the field of intellectual property of which Ukraine is a member, and deciding on possible withdrawal from certain agreements that are not of practical importance for our country, and considering the possibility of joining new progressive agreements that will improve the level of legal protection and protection of intellectual property rights.

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