– Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Rights to Inventions and Utility Models, in force since July 1, 1994, last amended on March 20, 2023.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as of April 26, 1970.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, as of December 25, 1991.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), as of December 25, 1991.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, as of July 2, 1997.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), as of December 22, 2003.
– Patent Law Treaty, since April 28, 2005.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since May 16, 2008.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since April 7, 2010.
– (Not a member of Eurasian Patent Convention).

Applicant: individuals or legal entities. 

Foreigners: must elect a patent attorney in Ukraine. Foreigners enjoy the same rights as nationals. Foreigners, stateless persons, foreign legal entities and other persons having the place of permanent residence or permanent location outside Ukraine, shall have the right to act independently as follows: (1) file an application to set the date of its submission; (2) pay fees and state duty; (3) provide copies of a previously submitted application to establish the date of application submission in compliance with Article 13 of the present Law; (4) provide copies of a previous application to establish the date of priority in compliance with Article 15 of the present Law; (5) receive receipts and notifications regarding any of the actions referred to in in this paragraph, provided that the address for correspondence in the territory of Ukraine is indicated in the application materials.

Patentability: a patent is granted for an invention which is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable.

First filing requirement: compulsory. An applicant, who is a Ukrainian national, or who has his/her permanent residence or principal place of business in Ukraine, must file the first patent application in Ukraine. In case of a PCT application, the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) will be the receiving Office or the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The applicant will be able to file abroad after three months following the filing date in Ukraine, provided that the invention is not classified as secret. Exceptions to this rule, for example, include situations in which there are several applicants with different nationalities/place of residence with an agreement between them on the subject of joint activity resulting in the creation of an invention.

Novelty: an invention is new if it supersedes the prior art. The prior art includes all sources available in the world before the priority date.

Novelty grace period: twelve months for the inventor.

Patent can be granted for: a product (devices, substances, strains of microorganisms, cultures of plant and animal cells and the like), process (way). "Use" of the invention ("new application of a known product or process") is excluded from the subject matters for which legal protection is granted.

Exceptions to protection: discovery, scientific theory, mathematical method; scheme, rules and method of conducting games, competitions, auctions, physical exercises, intellectual or organizational, in particular, economic activities (planning, financing, supply, accounting, lending, forecasting, standardization, etc.); computer program; form of information presentation (for example, in the form of tables, diagrams, graphs, using acoustic signals, pronunciation of words, visual demonstrations, in particular, on the screen of a computer device, audio and video discs, conditional symbols, namely, road signs, route schemes, codes, fonts, etc., schedules, instructions, designs or layouts of structures, buildings, territories); appearance of products (in particular, items, structures, territories) aimed at satisfying aesthetic needs only; varieties of plants and animal breeds; plant and animal reproduction process biological in their bases, which are not non-biological and microbiological processes as well as products of such process; assembling semiconductor items; outcomes of artistic construction; surgical or therapeutic ways of human or animal treatment, ways of diagnosing a human or animal organism. This provision shall not extend to the products (substances or compositions) applied in diagnostics or treatment; human cloning processes; processes of changing through the germ line of the genetic identity of people; use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes; processes of altering the genetic identity of animals that may affect their suffering without any significant medical benefit for humans or animals as well as animals derived from such process; human organism at various stages of its formation and development as well as the simple detection of one of its elements, in particular, the sequence or part of the gene sequence. This provision shall not affect the provision of legal protection for an invention, which object is represented by the elements of the human organism outside the organism or otherwise obtained using a technical process, including the sequence or partial sequence of the gene, even if the structure of this element is identical to the structure of the natural element; product or process affecting plants or animals, the use of which is limited to a particular variety of plants or a particular breed of animals; product or process affecting a natural biological material, not separated from its natural environment, or which is not a product of the technical process.

Unity of the invention: an application for invention must cover one invention only, or a group of inventions forming a single inventive concept.

Priorities: Convention priority may be claimed according to the Paris Convention.

Territory covered: Ukraine.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident patent attorney):
1. Power of attorney (no legalization required);
2. Specification and abstract (to be translated into the Ukrainian language; if filed in another language, the translation must be submitted within two months from the filing date);
3. Drawings (3 sets);
4. Priority document, if any (to be filed within three months from the filing date; if necessary, the NIPO may request submission of a translation of a priority application into the Ukrainian language).

Electronic filing: the application may be submitted on paper or electronically. The way of application submission shall be the choice of the applicant. Applications in electronic form shall be submitted subject to the identification of the applicant (representative for intellectual property cases or other trustee of the applicant) with the use of a qualified electronic signature.

PCT applications: time limit for entering national phase under both Chapters I and II: 31 months. Late national phase entry: possible, within twelve months after the expiration of the 31-month deadline. A Ukrainian translation of a PCT application must be submitted to the NIPO before the expiration of the 31-month term. This term may be extended by up to 2 months. Amendment of claims: possible. An application may enter into the Ukrainian national phase either with the claims as originally filed with the receiving Office, or with the claims amended at the stage of the international preliminary examination (if the examination was requested and any amendments were made). If the applicant wishes to file the claims amended after the completion of the international preliminary examination specifically for the entry into the Ukrainian national phase, it should be borne in mind that this set of claims will be put on the records, but the NIPO will treat the application as such that has entered into the national phase with the claims either as originally filed, or as amended at the stage of the international preliminary examination. Consequently, the filing fee will be calculated based on either the original claims or the claims amended at the stage of international preliminary examination, while, at the same time, an additional fee for making amendments in the application will have to be paid for the new claims. It is thus always recommended to submit the new claims upon filing a request for examination. Multiple dependent claims are permitted.

For a change of name or address:
1. A document confirming the legality of the change e.g. a legalized extract from the Commercial Register;
2. Power of attorney (no legalization required);
3. A document confirming payment of the fee.

Examination: provisional, formal and substantive examination. During the provisional examination an application is examined as to its contents to determine whether the invention may be classified as a State Secret. During the formal examination, the filing date is allocated and an application is examined on the subject of its conformity with the formal requirements set forth by law. If the formal requirements are met, the NIPO issues the corresponding decision and the application particulars, including claims, are published (eighteen months after the filing date or, if a priority was claimed, eighteen months from the priority date). Publication may be effected at an earlier date at the applicant’s request. Provisional protection: provided for, starts with the publication of the patent application. The substantive examination is carried out at the applicant’s (or any third parties) request filed within three years from the filing date. A third party may file such request after the publication of the application particulars. This term may be extended by up to six months provided that the corresponding request and the payment document are submitted before expiration of this term. If the provided term was missed, an applicant may file a request for its renewal within twelve months from the date of expiry of the term. The purpose of the substantive examination is to determine whether the claimed invention meets the requirements of patentability and novelty. If these requirements are met, the NIPO issues a decision on grant of a patent. An applicant may file an appeal against any decision issued by the Office within two months from the date of receipt of said decision or copies of the documents sent by the Office at an applicant’s request, either with the court or with the Chamber of Appeals. An appeal shall be examined by the Chamber of Appeals within two months from the date of its receipt. A decision of the Chamber of Appeals may be opposed in the court within two months from the date of receipt of the decision.

Pre-grant opposition: during a period of six months from the day of publishing information on the invention application, any person shall be entitled to provide the expert examination institution with a justified objection to the application. Objection shall be filed together with the copy thereof, which the expert examination institution shall immediately send to the applicant. The applicant may notify the expert examination institution of its attitude to the objection during the period of two months from the day of its receipt. The applicant may refute the objection and leave the application unchanged, make amendments to the application or revoke it. Results of objection consideration shall be specified in the justified expert examination conclusion on the application. A copy of the Institution's decision together with the justified conclusion shall be sent to the person that has submitted the objection.

Accelerated examination: the Ukrainian legislation does not provide for the possibility to accelerate the procedure of the examination of a patent application. However, the publication of the application particulars after carrying out the formal examination may be accelerated at the request of an applicant. PPH is also not available.

Fees: each independent claim is subject to an examination fee. 

Amendments of application: may be filed either on the applicant’s initiative or within two months from the date of receipt of the official inquiry or copies of publications cited against the application. Filing a request for introduction at the applicant’s initiative of amendments and rectifications into application materials upon receipt of the decision on allocation of an application filing date shall be subject to the payment of a fee. Additional materials extending the subject matter disclosed in the application are not accepted and may be drawn up as an independent application. A renewal of the missed term is possible. 

Conversion of application: the applicant has the right to convert the application for grant of a patent for an invention into grant of a patent for a utility model and vice versa, at any time before a decision of grant or a decision of refusal of grant is received. 

Division of the application: the division of an application from an original application may be carried out at the initiative of an applicant himself or at the initiative of an expert of the NIPO who conducts the examination of an application, prior to issuance of a decision with regard to such application.

Publication: based on a decision of grant and timely payment of the granting fee (within three months from the date of receipt of the decision), the NIPO enters the corresponding particulars into the Register and publishes the mention of grant in the Official Bulletin. The NIPO issues the Letters Patent (in paper format) within one month after registration. 

Duration of protection – extension: for a patent of invention: twenty years from the filing date of the patent application. The term of validity of a patent of invention relating to a drug, plant or animal protection means, the use of which should be supported by a license/marketing authorization issued by the respective competent authority, may be extended by request of the patent owner, by the term equivalent to the period from the filing date to the date of issuance of such a license, but not more than five years. Only a patent owner who filed a request for registration of a drug in Ukraine within one year from the date of filing of such a request first in any country has the right to extend the validity of patent.

Paediatric extension: not provided for. 

Annuities: the first annuity for the current year in which the patent was granted is paid only after granting. It must be paid within four months from the publication of the mention of grant of a patent. Each next annuity must be paid within the last four months of the current year of the patent term.

Annuity grace period: twelve months with a 50% fine.

Right of prior user: provided for.

Invalidation: possible. A patent may be declared to be invalid in full or in part in a court and in the Chamber of Appeals of the NIPO.

Post-grant opposition: the statement of invalidation of rights to the invention in full or in part may be submitted by any person to the Chamber of Appeals within a period of nine months from the date of publishing information on state registration of the invention based on non-compliance of the invention with the patentability requirements. The statement shall be considered within four months from the date of its receipt, subject to payment of a fee for its submission. This period may be extended by two months. Based on the outcomes of statement consideration, the Chamber of Appeals shall issue a justified decision, which can be appealed in court within two months from the date of its receipt.

License: registration with the NIPO is not compulsory. A party to a license agreement may officially and openly inform third persons about the grant of the license. Such notice is made through the publication of the corresponding particulars in the Official Bulletin, and such particulars are simultaneously entered in the Register.

Open license: the patent owner is entitled to apply to the NIPO for his willingness to grant permission to any person to exploit a patented invention (apply for a license of right). In the latter case, the annual maintenance fee is reduced by 50% beginning from the year following the year of publication of the application.

Working: compulsory.

 Obligation to use: if the invention is not used or is used insufficiently during a period of three years after the publication of the patent, or from the date when the last use was terminated, any person may obtain the right to use the invention through a court procedure (if the owner refuses to sign a license agreement).

Compulsory license: without consent of the patent owner, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine may authorize exploitation of an invention for purposes related to the national defense or special public interest.

Working conditions: use of an invention (utility model) is constituted by manufacturing a product with the use of a patented invention (utility model), application of such product, offering for sale, including e-commerce, sale, importation and other marketing or storage of such product for said purposes.

Actions that are not considered to be infringement of rights: (a) importation into the customs territory of Ukraine of goods manufactured using the invention (utility model) for research and/or use of the invention (utility model) in research conducted for the purpose of preparation and submission of information for registration of a medicine; (b) manufacture of a product or medicine containing a product using a patented invention for export to third countries, and other use of the invention if they are necessary for the manufacture of a product or medicine containing a product for export to third countries.

Infringement and penalties: the law provides for administrative (such as fines and confiscation of infringing products), civil and penal sanctions, including imposition of fines on infringers, confiscation of goods illegally incorporating the patented invention, equipment and materials used for their manufacture, as well as destruction of such infringing goods and equipment, hard labor and imprisonment.

Enforcement: Courts in accordance with their competence resolve, inter alia, disputes concerning: (1) authorship of an invention; (2) establishing the fact of use of the invention; (3) establishing a patent owner; (4) infringement of the patent owner's rights; (5) conclusion and performance of license agreements; (6) prior user rights; (7) compensation. An infringer shall compensate a right holder for property damage by indemnification of losses or payment of compensation and/or for non-property (moral) damage caused. The amount of damages shall be determined by the court taking into account the lost profit or income received by the infringer as a result of his infringement of patent owner's rights. The amount of compensation cannot be less than the amount of remuneration that would have been paid for the grant of permission to use the rights to the patent in respect of which a dispute arose.