No sector of the economy or institution in Ukraine is protected from the consequences of war. The recent tragic events in the Okhmatdyt hospital and throughout Ukraine have shown that nothing will stop the russians except our own strength and the support of our partners.
The director of the Ukrainian IP office, Olena Orliuk, emphasised this during the Ukrainian delegation's meeting with the leadership of the Division for Transition and Developed Countries (TDC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the WIPO General Assembly, which will take place from 9 July to 17 July 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
In this meeting, the following WIPO officers participated:
- Mr Habip Asan, Director, TDC, WIPO;
- Ms Virag Halgand, Head, Section for Central European and Baltic States Countries and Mediterranean Countries, TDC, WIPO;
- Ms Mihaela Cerbari Simmons, Program Officer, Section for Central European and Baltic States Countries and Mediterranean Countries, TDC, WIPO;
- Mr Kasym Velychko, Consultant, TDC, WIPO.
The Ukrainian delegation was represented by:
- Ms Olena Orliuk, Director, Ukrainian IP Office;
- Mr Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director, Ukrainian IP Office;
- Mr Vladyslav Bilotskyi, Deputy Director, Ukrainian IP Office;
- Ms Inna Dmytrenko, Head, Unit for Cooperation with National and International IP Institutions, Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
Ms Orliuk expressed profound gratitude to Mr Asan and the entire team at TDC and WIPO for their unwavering support to Ukraine, its national innovative development, and its intellectual property system. She also thanked them for their invaluable assistance in developing the National Intellectual Property Strategy, highlighting the immense value of the external experts’ input and consultations on improving national legislation to build an effective innovation ecosystem.
“I want to thank you for WIPO's support of the National IP Strategy development, a large number of useful projects, such as patent and TM training, consultation on changing our national laws and building an effective national innovation ecosystem. As for the National IP Strategy – we do our best to make it a leading strategy document that will be an example for not only the IP sphere”, said Ms Orliuk.
The Ukrainian delegation expressed gratitude for facilitating the participation of Ukrainian specialists in many valuable projects – for instance, a regional training on patents and trademarks for experts of the IP Offices of the Member States of the WIPO Central European and Baltic States (CEBS) Group.
Olena Orliuk emphasised that the Ukrainian IP Office profoundly appreciates the assistance provided and called for the continuation of this cooperation to support innovators, inventors, creators, authors and businesses that work in extremely tough realities.
“For us, it is about saving the strong creative and technological potential of our people. In our IP Office, we try to develop such innovative infrastructure that supports inventors and creators, boost IP filling and raise our defence capacity”, - said Mr Paduchak, First Deputy Director, Ukrainian IP Office.
He added that in the conditions of russian aggression, maintaining pressure on the aggressor and supporting Ukraine is crucial; hence, this vital issue must remain on the WIPO agenda. He expressed gratitude to Director Asan for the updated Report on the Assistance and Support for Ukraine’s Innovation and Creativity Sector and Intellectual Property System.
“I want to thank you for the updated Report on Assistance and Support for Ukraine. The russian war of aggression against Ukraine has an extremely negative impact on Ukrainian economy. WIPO Report and our own publications and project reports from TISC Network, IP Mediation and IP Academy show us how the IP sphere works in the face of such challenges”, Mr Paduchak added.
The participants outlined the following priority areas of cooperation with WIPO TDC:
- implementation of practical projects aimed at strengthening the innovative and creative potential and reducing the negative consequences of war, in particular, the WIPO IP Management Clinics program;
- further monitoring and evaluation of the negative effects of the war;
- expert support, in particular within the framework of the development of the National Strategy for the Development of Intellectual Property and assistance in the development of applied technologies;
- participation in cross-regional educational and training projects to improve the competence and exchange of experience of IP office experts.
The Ukrainian delegation also called for close cooperation on the functioning of the WIPO External Office in Moscow:
“It is our strong position that terrorist country cannot hold such a privilege [holding the WIPO Office in moscow] from WIPO”, - summed up Ms Orliuk.
Read also:
- The 65th series of meetings of Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO started in Geneva: the Ukrainian delegation called for closing the WIPO External Office in russia
- How to reduce the impact of the war on IP: Ukrainian delegation meets with Mr. Daren Tang, Director General, WIPO
- WIPO Supports Ukraine in Developing National Intellectual Property Strategy: “IP Strategy: WIPO for Ukraine” Session Results