Ukrainian IP Legislation has Drawn Closer to World Standards
On the request of the Ministry of the Economy of Japan, which is in charge of issues on intellectual property in the member-nations of the WTO and candidates to it, Magisters conducted a detailed analysis of Ukrainian legislation and law enforcement practice.
One of the responsibilities, which Ukraine took upon itself on entry to the WTO, was to bring some of the provisions of its IP legislation in line with the organization's standards. For this reason, the WTO decided to check the implementation of these responsibilities and commissioned the Ministry of the Economy of Japan to conduct a relevant survey.
Magisters was the adviser for the Ukrainian party, while coordination of work in Japan was conducted by Nishimura & Asahi Law Firm.
According to the results of the survey, to a large extent, Ukrainian legislation complies with the requirements of the WTO, although there are also obvious imperfections in the system.
For example, experts were surprised by the somewhat lenient criminal sanctions for the violation of IP rights, since international practice regarding the severity of punishment equates such violations to the theft of property. In Ukraine, sanctions for these crimes, which pose similar threats, differ significantly.
In the vast majority of cases, Ukrainian courts apply the most lenient of possible punishments against offenders (as a rule, a relatively small fine), which encourages an increase in this type of offence.
Taras Kyslyy, Senior Associate at Magisters, in charge of this project, noted: "On the whole, the Ukrainian system for the protection of IP rights, complies with WTO standards. However, our research has shown that improvements are required in law enforcement practice and in methods for the elimination of counterfeit production - the corresponding procedure is defective and non-transparent."
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