(ALICANTE) – The EU Commission and the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) agreed Wednesday a joint definition of the first set of measures to safeguard protection of intellectual property in Ukraine.
In response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, the EUIPO – which is responsible for managing the EU trade mark and the registered Community design – adopted a number of measures in the field of intellectual property.
In agreement with the Commission, the EUIPO will safeguard Ukrainian intellectual property rights in the European Union by providing full support to Ukrainian customers while the situation prevents normal communication.
Concretely, the EUIPO has issued a one-month extension of time limit from 24 February for all parties in proceedings before the Office having their residence or registered office in Ukraine, and will review the need for further extensions and additional measures as we move forward.
The EUIPO will also suspend all technical cooperation with the Russian and Belorussian intellectual property offices, including Rospatent, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, and the Eurasian Patent Organisation (EAPO).
In addition, EUIPO will ensure that intellectual property rights originating from Crimea are not falsely registered as coming from Russia.
Moreover, on request of the Commission, the EUIPO will coordinate with national and regional intellectual property offices on how they can jointly help the Ukrainians in these difficult times by taking measures to prevent the loss or misappropriation of their intellectual property rights and suspend all technical cooperation with the Russian and Belorussian intellectual property offices.
European Union Intellectual Property Office statement on Ukraine