New rules for registration of inventions have been introduced in Ukraine: faster, more transparent and with priority for high-tech industries

From October 25, 2024, new rules for registering inventions and utility models came into effect in Ukraine. These changes are aimed at simplifying and speeding up the innovation registration procedure, making it more transparent and accessible to both Ukrainian and foreign inventors. The press service of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine reported on the innovations, emphasizing their importance for the development of the country's innovative ecosystem.

Deputy Minister of Economy Vitaliy Kindrativ noted that the new rules demonstrate Ukraine's desire to support innovative development, especially in such areas as green energy, transport technologies, nanotechnology, biotechnology and the defense industry. It is these industries that now receive priority status during the application review, which will allow the country to promote the development of the most promising areas of scientific and technological progress.

The key goal of the new rules is digitalization of the examination process, which will allow to reduce the time for checking documents and speed up the registration of rights to inventions. According to Kindrativ, this will allow Ukrainian inventors to more quickly obtain legal protection for their developments, which is an important factor for competitiveness in the global innovation market.

The Ministry of Economy also announced the update of procedural requirements for applicants. The documents required for registration, as well as the details of the examination procedure, are now clearly spelled out in the new rules, which simplifies the application process and ensures transparency for each stage. Special attention is paid to international applications and applications in the fields related to state secrets.

The new rules also introduce mechanisms for partial waiver of rights, as well as the possibility for third parties to express comments and objections to claimed inventions. This contributes to the better protection of the interests of all parties and ensures the transparency of the process, which is especially important in the conditions of expanding legal integration of Ukraine with the European community.

In addition, the changes meet EU standards and are aligned with the Acquis communautaire. This is an important step for the integration of the Ukrainian innovation system with the European one and ensuring the recognition of Ukrainian inventions at the international level.

However, even with the new rules, Ukraine still needs to improve its protection of intellectual rights: in 2024, the country ranked 102 out of 125 in IPRI's international ranking of property rights, published by the Property Rights Alliance.