On 10 December, bilateral screening meetings between Ukraine and the European Commission on Chapter 7 “Intellectual Property Law” under Cluster 2 “Internal Market”, started in Brussels, Belgium. The screening is an integral part of Ukraine’s accession negotiations with the EU.

Over the course of two days, the delegation of Ukraine, led by the chief negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna, will present progress in the implementation of EU law in the areas of copyright and related rights, trademarks, industrial designs, semiconductor product layouts, inventions, protection of intellectual property rights and trade secrets.

“Intellectual property law is an important part of the European integration process. It is the basis for promoting innovation, protecting creativity and ensuring fair competition. A strong and effective intellectual property system is essential for Ukraine to build a knowledge-based economy, attract investment and fully participate in the EU single market. And Ukraine is determined to bring its national legislation in line with EU legislation in this area,” Olha Stefanishyna emphasised.

“Over the course of two days, we are presenting an overview of the current legislation in Ukraine and discussing further changes to adapt it to EU law. An important task is to effectively address the existing challenges, which will provide Ukrainian creators, innovators and investors with a new level and conditions for their development during this crucial period of negotiations with the EU,” said Vitaliy Kindrativ, Deputy Minister of Economy.

Olha Stefanishyna also stressed that Ukraine would develop a roadmap for integration into the European Patent Convention. “We are focused on strengthening the legal protection of inventions and utility models in accordance with the best European practices and the European Patent Convention,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Ukraine is represented at the meetings by the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Health, the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations, and the Scientific-Research Institute of Intellectual Property.

Ukraine’s obligations in the area of intellectual property are stipulated in Chapter 9 “Intellectual Property” of Title IV “Trade and Trade-related Matters” of the Association Agreement.

Under the Association Agreement, the obligations in the field of intellectual property provide for the simplification of the procedure for the creation and commercial use of innovative products and products of creative activity in Ukraine and the EU Member States, as well as the achievement of an appropriate and effective level of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.