Anti-counterfeiting: Ukraine

Protection Against Counterfeit and Piracy in Ukraine

No one is insured against infringement of IP rights, even if you are a manufacturer of high-quality goods marked with a well-known trademark. Moreover, such a manufacturer most often appears to be a favourite target for dishonest individuals who receive significant profits by producing counterfeit goods.

A sharp decline in sales, an increased number of complaints about products, quality of which is constantly monitored and consistent with existing standards, third-party reports on the detection of counterfeit – all of these occasions refer to warning signs indicating the need to take urgent countermeasures.

Counterfeit includes:

• products marked with designations that are an exact copy of the original trademark or similar to the degree of confusion;
• counterfeit products, the appearance of which misleads the consumer with regard to the manufacturer;
• pirated products (for example, illegally manufactured and distributed computer programs, audio and video materials), etc.

Anti-counterfeiting may be performed in several directions at once:

• registration of IP rights in accordance with the existing legislation (for example, certificates for marks for goods and services, patents for inventions, utility models, industrial designs) if it has not been previously done;
• tracking violations of IP rights, identifying individuals whose activities violate IP rights or may lead to such a violation;
• recordal of IP objects in the Customs register of Ukraine;
• protection of IP rights according to the extrajudicial, administrative or judicial procedure. More information on the protection of IP rights here.

One of the most effective ways is to record IP objects such as trademarks, utility models, industrial designs, objects of copyright and related rights, appellations of origin in the Customs Register.

Thus, according to the existing legislation, the object may remain in the Customs Register of Ukraine for 6 months or 1 year, depending on the wish of the object’s owner. Extension of this period is possible but limited by the object validity term of the rights. Read more about this procedure here.

If you need assistance in the fight against counterfeit products, please contact us! Our specialists will answer all your questions and provide all necessary services.