The Ukrainian delegation requested that russia, as an aggressor, be deprived of all opportunities to enjoy any benefits or honors from WIPO during the 47th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) WIPO.

This request was announced by the First Deputy Director of the IP Office Bohdan Paduchak:

“russian war of aggression against Ukraine undermines the efforts of WIPO and other UN agencies on protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions worldwide, while simultaneously taking advantage of all privileges and abusing IP law. This harms not only the global community but also indigenous people and local communities’’. 

The mandate of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) is to effectively protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions worldwide. Therefore, the Ukrainian delegation called on the IGC to assess the actions of the russian federation, which deliberately has a destructive impact on the history, life and culture of the Ukrainian nation as a whole, as well as on indigenous peoples and local communities within its borders.

“It is 467 days since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the russian federation, and more than 9 years since russia illegally occupied the Crimean peninsula. The tragic chain of events set in motion by the annexation in 2014 has had a profound impact on the history and culture of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. According to reports from the UN, over 10,000 people, predominantly Crimean Tatars, left Crimea after the annexation, and Tatar leaders have faced systematic intimidation, harassment and imprisonment.

In violation of international humanitarian law, russia as the occupying power conducts the forced conscription of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine. The mobilization campaign in Crimea targets specifically Crimean Tatars, indigenous people of Crimea non-loyal towards the occupying administration.

Furthermore, russian occupiers have damaged 1,189 cultural heritage sites and cultural infrastructure in Ukraine, with 446 of them being completely destroyed”, - emphasized Bohdan Paduchak.

The Ukrainian delegation’s statement was supported by the representatives:

• Poland - on behalf of the countries of the Central European and Baltic States of the WIPO

• Switzerland - on behalf of the Group B countries;

• Sweden - on behalf of the European Union and its member states.

The Ukrainian delegation once again insists on the revocation of russia’s membership in international organizations, and calls for the formation of further vectors for improving the IP sphere in the context of the development of indigenous peoples, local communities and traditional knowledge.

The IGC will take place from June 5 to 9, 2023, at WIPO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, in a hybrid format.

The following issues are also on the agenda of the session:

• providing financial opportunities for indigenous peoples and local communities to participate in the sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) (discussions on ensuring the formation and filling of the WIPO Voluntary Fund);

• formation of a Key Terms Glossary Related to IP and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions;

• discussing the future mandate of the IGC;

• protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions: draft articles and gap analysis;

• report on the collection of materials on the regimes of information on genetic resources disclosure and associated traditional knowledge.

The Ukrainian delegation encourages the World Intellectual Property Organization to stop funding projects in the russian federation. This claim was announced by the head of the delegation, First Deputy of the IP Office Bohdan Paduchak at the 35th session of the WIPO Program and Budget Committee.

In particular, we are talking about the following russian projects:

• financing the External Office in moscow;
• financing all development projects, including the TISC network and the National IP Training Center;
• financing the participation of delegates from the russian federation in the meetings of the WIPO Assemblies of Member States, Standing Committees, and Working Groups at WIPO's expense.

“We call on international community to act in response to russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as it prescribed in the UN General Assembly resolution “Aggression against Ukraine”. The international community should be united and strong to preserve the capacity of basic norms and principles of the international law. russia has no right to shape further the international agenda. It was ousted from more than 25 international organizations and other formats of multilateral cooperation”, - said First Deputy Director of the IP Office Bohdan Paduchak.

The Ukrainian delegation, consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the IP Office, cited the example of the WHO’s decision to move its office from the russian capital to Denmark.

“We would also like to draw the attention of distinguished delegates and WIPO Secretariat to the WHO decision to close WHO NCD-office in moscow and relocate it to Copenhagen. It is an excellent example for other international organizations, incl. WIPO, to follow in order to get rid of russia’s malign influence and show that those who break the rules will be punished.

The Delegation of Ukraine firmly believes that timely and comprehensive evaluation of the budgeted personnel and non-personnel resources allocated to the russian federation would enable member states to make well-informed decisions regarding the future of the network”, - Bohdan Paduchak emphasized.

The 35th session of the WIPO Program and Budget Committee (PBC) is taking place from May 22 to 26, 2023.

The goals of the global IP community and economic stability cannot be achieved without taking into account global influences and challenges, an accelerator of deepening them was russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. This was emphasized by the Ukrainian delegation at the 35th session of the WIPO’s Program and Budget Committee (PBC) in Geneva.

It is within the mandate of this Committee to take into account the devastating consequences of the actions taken by one of the member states and to make appropriate decisions to counteract them as it considers proposals for the WIPO Work Program and Budget for the next biennium 2024-2025.

«453 days ago, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. Russia damaged and destroyed more than 92 thousand civilian infrastructure facilities, including residential buildings and houses, educational and medical institutions, cultural and religious buildings, and water and electricity networks. Russian occupiers also damaged 1,322 sites of cultural heritage and cultural infrastructure in Ukraine, 505 of them were completely destroyed. These numbers do not include those damages on the temporarily occupied areas, in which the real level of destruction is much higher», - emphasized the First Deputy Director of the IP Office (UANIPIO) Bohdan Paduchak, in the meeting hall during his speech to the Chair, the WIPO Secretariat and member-states representatives.

The Ukrainian delegation emphasized that russia’s actions deepen the consequences of all global problems. According to the UNDP, last year alone, 71 million people from 159 developing countries experienced poverty because of soaring food and energy prices driven by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian occupiers have left more than 180,000 square kilometers of our territory dangerous because of mines and unexploded ordnances. For a country that ranks among the world’s top 5 agricultural exporters, this represents a direct devaluation of global food security guarantees.

At the same time, the russian delegation during the PBC session systematically tried to conceal information about the impact of the full-scale war and to prevent statements in support of Ukraine.

However, representatives of the delegations supported our country:

• Poland - on behalf of the countries of the Central European and Baltic States of the WIPO
• Switzerland - on behalf of the Group B countries;
• Sweden - on behalf of the European Union and its member states,
• and also Canada.

In turn, the First Deputy Director of the Ukrainian IP Office emphasized:

«Russian full-scale war against Ukraine undermines the efforts of WIPO and other UN agencies, while simultaneously taking advantage of all privileges and abusing IP law. This harms not only the global community but also individual right holders and relevant actors».

Bohdan Paduchak also encouraged the IP community to take measures to deprive the russian federation of the opportunity to enjoy all the privileges and honors of the WIPO and thanked all WIPO member-states who continue to provide support and solidarity to Ukraine and our people.

What else is the PBC Committee working on during the 35th session

The participants of the session discuss the draft agenda of the 35th session of the PBC Committee, including the following issues:

• report on the progress in implementing the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Group;
• WIPO’s performance report for 2022;
• update the mechanism for further involvement of member states in the preparation and implementation of the Work Program and Budget;
• work program and budget for 2024/2025;
• methodology for the distribution of income and expenses.

During the session, member states analyze WIPO’s performance report for 2022, assess the financial results and progress towards achieving the goals set out in the Work Program and Budget for the biennium 2022-2023.

Taking part of the Ukrainian representatives in the PBC's session allow to:

• speed up the optimal formation and functioning of the innovation ecosystem with the participation of national stakeholders,
• counteract the attempts of the russian federation to use the platforms of international organizations to legitimize its actions,
• facilitate the attraction of technical assistance from WIPO and its member states.

Why is Ignorance the main enemy of the inventor? How can Artificial Intelligence help solve complex situations? Why do the coolest ideas need protection?

The answers to these and other questions are in the comic book titled "Metaverse Travelers". The series consists of five issues and was created mainly for teenagers. But adults will also find a lot of interesting things for themselves.

The heroes of the comic are Ukrainian teenagers who want to implement their ideas and earn money from them. However, they are hindered by the forces of evil led by Ignorance. However, teenagers have an ally - Artificial Intelligence, which will explain why IPR knowledge protects works and ideas.

The comic book is not for sale.

Download it using the following links:

For online reading:

• in Ukrainian,
• in English.

Print version:

• in Ukrainian,
• in English.

Disclaimer:

The publication was developed within the support of the international cooperation project ReACT4UA ("Utilization and Implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine in the field of trade"), that is financed by the German government and is implemented by the German federal company "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH".

The beneficiary of the project is the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. The authors of the script and text are representatives of the IP Office.

This publication is the result of creative activity and is not intended for sale or commercial use.

On April 26, the world traditionally celebrates World IP Day. The theme chosen by WIPO for the 2023 campaign is "Women and IP: Accelerating innovation and creativity."

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General Daren Tang called for increased support from the IP sphere for women's inventive, creative, and entrepreneurial activities, talking about WIPO's key initiatives in this direction.

We offer a video of the address of the Head of WIPO.

You may watch a video here.

Achievement of the sustainable development goals and economic growth is possible only after the aggressor state of russia withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine. This was emphasized by the Ukrainian delegation at the 30th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) in Geneva.

The full-scale invasion of the russian federation devalues all collective efforts to develop and promote IP. This was emphasized by Marharyta Okseniuk, Deputy Director of the Investment, Innovation and IP Department of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, in her address to the Chair, the WIPO Secretariat and representatives of the member states.

«Ukraine marks 426 days of the war for survival after russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. On this day, I would like to remind you of 19,514 cases of forced transfers of Ukrainian children, including under the pretext of psychiatric and medical rehabilitation. About 4,390 Ukrainian children with a special status (orphans and children deprived of parental care) remain in the temporarily occupied territories and in russia. About 43 camps for the "ideological re-education" of Ukrainian children that were created on russian territory and in the temporarily occupied Crimea. These young people do not learn how to commercialize their products or protect their IP. We may never be able to show them collaborative efforts to promote IP. Moreover, I want to remind you about 10 thousand civilians, including 465 children, who will never again be able to contribute to the global IP sphere ever», - emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.

«We can discuss sustainable development only after the war is over», - emphasized Bohdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director of the Ukrainian IP Office:

“The role of SMEs and innovation in achieving economic recovery and sustainable development is crusial. It is also important that support is provided to the most vulnerable social groups to ensure their engagement in inclusive growth and counteract the negative factors of the war. Ukraine recognizes the valuable efforts of WIPO in developing programs aimed at building IP capacity for such groups, including through various DA projects”, - said the representative of the IP office.

At the same time, during the 30th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, the russian delegation systematically tried to conceal information about the impact of the full-scale war and to prevent statements in support of Ukraine. However, the representatives of the delegations supported our country: Poland - on behalf of the countries of the Regional Group of Central Europe and Baltic States; Switzerland - on behalf of the countries of Group B; Sweden - on behalf of the European Union and its member states.

The IP community remains focused on the goals of the WIPO Strategic Action Plan to support and empower women and youth in the IP sphere, methodological and economic research, digitalization, etc.

The participants discussed the draft Agenda of the 30th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP):

• Reporting on a number of WIPO projects on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and related tasks;
• Consideration of development project proposals for countries with economies in transition and developing countries;
• Empowering young people to innovate for a better future;
• Discussing WIPO's technical assistance in the area of cooperation in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Participation of Ukrainian representatives in the Committee's sessions provides our specialists with an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the impact of intellectual property on development, as well as to continue discussions on the implementation of the Development Agenda recommendations. This is important for supporting national stakeholders, taking into account WIPO's technical assistance and efforts together with Member States in developing programs aimed at building IP capacity.

For reference:

The 30th session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) takes place in Geneva, Swiss Confederation, on April 24-28, 2023.

Topics of the meeting: providing effective IP training programs at the national and regional levels and current IP and innovation sphere development trends.

The special virtual session was organized by the WIPO Academy and the Intellectual Property Academy Singapore (IPOS International) with the participation of representatives of the IP Office, namely the team of the Intellectual Property Academy Department and the Department for the network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) development. The session was held online on April 18, 2023.

In particular, the Ukrainian representatives were interested in valuable and progressive cases related to the experience of the IP Academy Singapore in managing intangible assets and intellectual property in the context of reducing risks, increasing efficiency, and creating social and economic value.

During the meeting, issues related to applying a diverse range of programs covering law and technology, from awareness to professional development for practitioners in the IP sphere, were also discussed.

The speakers of the event were representatives of the Intellectual Property Academy Singapore:

• Toon Meng Peh, Head (IP Academy) IPOS International
• Eric Khoo
• Soh Hui Tay

The Ukrainian IP Office thanks colleagues for a productive and exciting meeting and the knowledge gained.

In the conditions of the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, it is essential to ensure control over the assets of persons associated with the aggressor state since they can be used as a source of financing for the russian federation and, on the other hand, become a valuable asset for the restoration of Ukraine.

To organize cooperation on the exchange of IPR-related information, and to develop proposals for improving the legislation on applying special economic and other restrictive measures, the Staff of the NSDC of Ukraine and UANIPIO (IP Office) concluded a Memorandum on Interaction and Cooperation.

"The IP Office notes the priority of IPR protection and enforcement in compliance with the national interests of Ukraine and pays special attention to monitoring the procedures for registering the IPR obtaining and deprivation to fulfill the requirements of the legislation on sanctions. At the same time, the practical implementation of measures to block assets and prevent IPR disposal of persons subject to sanctions is facing a number of problems, the solution of which requires legislative regulation," said the Head of the IP Office, Olena Orliuk.

The parties agreed to conduct research and analysis to strengthen the capacity of sanctions policy in the state, as well as exchange information related to the implementation and monitoring of the effectiveness of the relevant policy in the state and law enforcement in this sphere.

Read also:

Creation of conditions for the development of the innovation ecosystem in Ukraine: ICC Ukraine and the IP Office signed a Memorandum of Cooperation