The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine hosted a forum dedicated to the protection of intellectual property during the war. The event was attended by representatives of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation, the Ukrainian Bar Association, DIIA City Union, the Association of Distributors of Ukraine, Ukrvodka Association, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the European Business Association, the Ukrainian Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, as well as representatives of right holders.

During the Forum, the participants discussed the existing instruments of intellectual property rights protection, necessary legislative changes and the results of the ESBU work in combating counterfeiting.

The Head of the Main Detective Unit of the ESBU Oleksandr Tkachuk said that detectives focus on exposing underground production and sales networks of counterfeit goods. The SBU documented and stopped the activities of 16 large-scale production facilities of counterfeit goods of well-known world brands in Kyiv, Zakarpattia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi and Kirovohrad regions. Large wholesale markets and online trading remain the main channels of distribution of counterfeit goods. The sources of counterfeit goods entering the Ukrainian market are underground workshops and smuggled goods mainly from China and Turkey.

‘Detectives sent 55 criminal proceedings against more than 95 people to court. Since the beginning of this year, 17 people have been served with a notice of suspicion. The estimated value of the seized counterfeit products is more than UAH 480 million,’ Tkachuk said in his speech.

He also said that in order to improve the level of communication, quality of monitoring and prompt response to the facts of illegal circulation of counterfeit goods, the ESBU will introduce a contact centre for the protection of intellectual property.

At the same time, Andriy Pashchuk, Deputy Director of the Economic Security Bureau, noted that in addition to detecting and investigating crimes, the ESBU is actively involved in legislative work in this area. In particular, the ESBU experts have already analysed Ukrainian legislation on the implementation of EU Directives and Regulations.

‘There are a number of inconsistencies between the European and Ukrainian legislation on the definition of criminal liability for intellectual property offences. In order to eliminate them, we propose to create a working group with the participation of specialists from UKIPO and specialised organisations. In addition, it would be advisable to consider reducing the threshold of criminal liability for committing crimes under Article 229 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,’ said Pashchuk.

In his turn, Regulatory Affairs Manager at JTI Ukraine Yevhen Kuzmenko stressed that in addition to the proposed changes, a library of samples of finished tobacco products manufactured in Ukraine could become an effective tool for identifying counterfeiters.

‘All Ukrainian cigarette manufacturers will be required to provide samples of their products to this library. This will allow us to quickly identify illegal products and the equipment on which they were manufactured. This approach will significantly strengthen the capabilities of law enforcement agencies in the fight against the illegal market and help reduce the level of shadow trade in tobacco products in Ukraine.’

All participants of the forum supported the proposals of the ESBU specialists, noting the positive dynamics in the protection of intellectual property.

‘We see the progress in intellectual property protection by the ESBU, we see the prompt exchange of information and we are ready to support the initiatives of the ESBU in every way possible,’ said Mikhail Polyakov, Deputy General Director of Philip Morris Ukraine.

Yevhen Kompanets, Deputy Head of the Legal Department at Pakharenko & Partners Law Firm, also noted the high level of knowledge and professionalism of the ESBU detectives.

At the end of the event, the ESBU representatives invited the attendees to join the newly created contact centre for rights holders and experts for further cooperation in the field of IP protection.