the 1000th object of intellectual property rights was registered in the customs register
24 February 2025 16:49
The state’s protection of intellectual property rights is an important marker that significantly affects its investment attractiveness. This was reminded by the State Customs Service, which maintains the customs register of intellectual property rights, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The customs register of intellectual property rights contains all the necessary information about original goods and those suspected of infringing intellectual property rights.
The registration of intellectual property rights is carried out on the basis of applications from right holders. Among the 1000 objects already registered:
– 921 are trademarks,
– 50 are copyrighted items,
– 26 – industrial designs,
– 2 – inventions,
– 1 – geographical indication.
The largest number of categories of goods containing registered intellectual property rights are alcoholic beverages, electrical appliances, food, children’s toys, medicines, clothing and footwear.
The right holders of 85% of the intellectual property rights registered in the customs register are non-residents of Ukraine.
Right holders who have grounds to believe that their intellectual property rights are or may be infringed during the movement of goods across the customs border of Ukraine may submit a free of charge application to the State Customs Service for registration of intellectual property rights in the customs register.
What can be included in the customs register
The intellectual property objects that are included in the register of intellectual property rights include:
– A trademark registered in Ukraine (NTM);
– A trademark that has an international registration (MTM);
– An industrial design registered in Ukraine (IPD);
– Industrial design that has international registration (IPD);
– Objects of copyright and related rights (AR);
– Invention (I);
– Plant variety (PV);
– Layout of semiconductor products (C);
– Geographical indication (GI): for agricultural products and foodstuffs, wine, flavored beverages based on wine products, spirits, and other products, as defined in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
Legal protection of intellectual property rights in Ukraine
Information about the right holders of certain trademarks that are legally protected in Ukraine is contained in the Customs Register and/or any sources of information available to the customs authorities on the protection of intellectual property rights (international registration (Madrid Monitor), the State Register of Certificates of Ukraine for trademarks, etc.)
The Criminal Code of Ukraine (CCU) defines the following crimes as infringements of intellectual property rights: infringement of copyright and related rights (Article 176); infringement of rights to an invention, utility model, industrial design, integrated circuit topography, plant variety, or rationalization proposal (Article 177); unlawful use of a trademark, trade name, or qualified indication of the origin of goods (Article 229).
The pre-trial investigation of criminal offenses under Article 229 of the Criminal Code is carried out by detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (in accordance with Part 3 of Article 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine).
The customs initiates a case on violation of customs rules (Article 476 of the Customs Code of Ukraine – CCU), and the goods being the direct objects of the offense are seized if within 20 business days the expert report conducted by the relevant authorized body confirms the violation of intellectual property rights during the movement of goods across the customs border of Ukraine, in respect of which a decision to suspend customs clearance was made (part 14 of Article 399 of the CCU).
The customs may apply measures to facilitate the protection of intellectual property rights either on the basis of information from the Customs Register or on its own initiative if the trademark is not in the Customs Register but has legal protection in Ukraine. In this case, a risk analysis system is applied.
