Chamber News (#07-08 July-August 2016)

Intellectual property rights as a tool for innovative development of Ukraine

On June 10 the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine held an exclusive thematic event devoted to the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in Ukraine. A Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights has been operating within the Chamber for several years now, whose aim is to improve the legislative and regulatory system with regard to IPR, thereby contributing to an increase in the competitive level of the economy and creating incentives for innovations.

The event was attended by representatives of business, national politicians, diplomats and civil society activists. Participants took part in four discussion panels which discussed issues of intellectual property rights protection in healthcare, seeds and IT spheres, as well as creative and media sectors. The impact of violations in the field of intellectual property rights on trade and overall attractiveness were also among the main topics raised during the discussion.

Chamber experts are convinced that the problem of IPR violation is a threat to steady economic development of Ukraine and restrains the wave of foreign and internal investments. A failure to observe or openly ignore the norms of current Ukrainian IPR legislation harms the innovative development of enterprises and has a negative influence on Ukraine’s image.

Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine: “All four panel discussions demonstrate how wide the question of protection of intellectual property rights is. This applies not only to information technologies but also to pharmaceuticals, seeds in an agriculture complex and media industry. For people that create new things, that have talent, protection of intellectual property rights is of high priority”.

Nadiia Vasylieva, Chamber Board Member responsible for the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights: “Ukraine is the first in Europe in terms of technological knowledge and the fifth in the world. We have every reason to be proud. But the three most promising sectors of the economy (agriculture, metallurgy, IT) sell raw materials rather than finished products. To ensure that talented people and promising business remain in Ukraine and work for the benefit of the national economy, it is necessary to provide adequate protection for intellectual property rights. At the legislative level, these rights are protected well. The problem is in improper enforcement. The practical system of protection of intellectual property in Ukraine is weak and needs to be fixed.”

Following the results of the event, all participants agreed that the situation with IPR protection can be improved by adopting Draft Act No.3081-1 On State Support of the Cinematography in Ukraine, amendment of the activity of collective management organizations and improving state registration of medicinal products. Establishing a coordination mechanism between different state executive bodies aimed at effective control of the seeds market is of utmost importance in the sphere of seeds.

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