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Ihor Benedysiuk, Secretary of the Judicial Chamber on Cases on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and Cases Related with Anti-Monopoly and Competition Legislation of the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court, took part in the twenty-second meeting of the EU–Ukraine Intellectual Property Rights Dialogue (the IPR Dialogue).
The event, organised by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine together with the European Commission, served as a platform for discussing progress in intellectual property law reform, the implementation of the EU acquis, and the development of the institutional framework in this field. In particular, Ihor Benedysiuk contributed to Panel I, "Progress of Reform in the Field of Intellectual Property Law", where he informed participants about the current state of establishing and operating the High Court for Intellectual Property.
The judge noted that current attention to the development of intellectual property legislation is unprecedented, especially in the context of establishing the IP Office and harmonising Ukrainian legislation with European Union law. At the same time, he reminded participants that the specialisation in adjudicating intellectual property cases in Ukraine’s commercial courts has deep roots. As early as 2003, a specialised chamber for the consideration of commercial disputes related to intellectual property rights was established within the Higher Commercial Court of Ukraine. However, since its creation and the introduction of specialisation in commercial courts, no substantial structural changes have taken place in the judicial system to improve the adjudication of intellectual property cases.
Ihor Benedysiuk pointed out that some progress was observed in 2017, when the judicial reform envisaged the establishment of the High Court for Intellectual Property, amendments were made to procedural legislation, and a competition for the selection of judges was announced. Nevertheless, these changes have not yet resulted in the commencement of the court’s work. At present, intellectual property disputes are heard by courts of general and commercial jurisdiction, which complicates the task of ensuring consistency in judicial practice.
The Secretary of the specialised chamber of the Supreme Court’s Commercial Cassation Court drew attention to the fact that this situation also hampers the effective protection of intellectual property rights. In his view, a systemic solution is needed: either to complete the judicial competition and launch the activity of the High Court for Intellectual Property, or to amend the law to introduce temporary specialisation within the commercial courts. This would help build a stable structure for adjudicating such cases and create conditions for preparing judges with the necessary expertise.
The judge stressed that to ensure proper protection of intellectual property rights, priority must be given to creating an appropriate structure for handling this category of disputes. Concluding his remarks, Ihor Benedysiuk stated: "No matter how we develop legislation, how we harmonise it, and regardless of how effective it may be - if there is no one to apply these legislative acts, then, unfortunately, we cannot truly speak of effective protection".
Photo courtesy of the organisers.
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