Country Index: Poland/Ukraine Special Published on www.country-index.com June 2012 UKRAINE AND EURO 2012: LAW REVIEW By Grygorii Prokhorov-Lukin, Iprocon, Kiev, Ukraine Country overview Ukraine is the Eastern European country with the population of more than 45 million people. The capital city is Kiev, which is a separate administrative unit and is situated on both banks of the Dnieper River - the largest river in the country. Kiev is the eighth in population city in Europe after Moscow, London, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Berlin and Madrid. The history of Kiev includes more than 1,500 years. Ukraine is a presidential-parliamentary republic. President in office - Viktor Yanukovych, the legislature body - unicameral Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), the Government - the Cabinet of Ministers. The territory of the country covers 603,628 square kilometers that is on 56,598 square kilometers bigger than in France. In the south Ukraine is washed by the Black and Azov Seas. Ukraine has borders with following states: at the east and north-east - with Russia, at the north - with Belarus, at the west - with Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the south-west - with Romania, Moldova and the Dniester Moldavian Republic. Legislative support of the Euro 2012 in Ukraine During the preparation for Euro 2012 more than 250 laws and regulations were adopted and amended in Ukraine, namely there are such numbers: the Laws of Ukraine - 9, Decrees and Orders of the President of Ukraine - 36, Acts of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - 10, decisions and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine - 181. In addition, a number of commemorative coins dedicated to the football championship Euro 2012 have been introduced by the decisions of the National Bank of Ukraine. Special features in trademark law Into the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Rights to Trademarks for Goods and Services" any changes related to the football championship Euro 2012 were not brought (the text of the law in English is available at http://sips.gov.ua/en / laws_special_3).However, in 2008 the Law of Ukraine "On organization and staging of finals of the 2012 European Football Championship in Ukraine" was adopted. Article 9 of this law provides unprecedented protection of UEFA IP rights. In accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article Ukraine provides protection of Intellectual Property of UEFA and its Commercial Partners under the laws of Ukraine and international agreements ratified by Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the Act discloses that during organizing and staging of the championship some actions are prohibited: direct and indirect use in any manner without permission of UEFA intellectual property rights of UEFA and unauthorized marketing. Also, the registration of legal entity (including agency), print media, the name (title) which is wholly or partially reproduce trademarks, symbols, names or other intellectual property rights of UEFA are not allowed. Paragraph 3 of Article 9 establishes that during the organization of the championship the State Intellectual Property Service of Ukraine provides: - examination of applications for UEFA intellectual property by the specialized team of experts immediately, so that the state registration of property is to be finished within six months from the applications’ receipt; - prompt detection of applications that are contrary to any application or registration of UEFA IP, immediate review by the specialized team of experts objections to these proposals and acceptance of decisions in the order established by law. Page1 In fact, these functions are performed by Ukrainian Patent and Trademark office (Ukrpatent). Moreover, the Article 13 of the Act is one of interest, in paragraph 1 which states that during the staging of the football championship finals in Ukraine income (profit) received by UEFA as a result of activities in Ukraine, including remuneration from the sale of marketing rights and other commercial rights are not taxable. Unprecedented, in our opinion, are also the Temporary Rules of UEFA procedural requirements during the examination of an application for a Certificate of Ukraine on trademark for goods and services and international registration of trademark for goods and services which was approved by Ukrpatent on 27/03/2008. Thus, in accordance with paragraph 6 of the Temporary Rules the examination of the application, the applicant of which is UEFA, is carried out and turned immediately and should be completed within four months from the filing date. Paragraph 10 of the Temporary Rules provides that if the applicant is a person other than UEFA, there is a quick check without any delay whether the application does not contradict with the claim of any application or registration of UEFA. Temporary Rules also contain other provisions aimed to ensure prompt consideration of UEFA trademarks applications in our country. The procedure of filing and proceeding of applications for trademarks in Ukraine for all other persons have not been changed. For more information, please contact: Grygorii Prokhorov-Lukin Partner Law and Patent Office “IPROCON”, Apt. 29, 5-A Pervomayskogo Str., Kiev, Ukraine [email protected] I www.iprocon.com.ua Grygorii Prokhorov-Lukin has 13 years of experience in the field of IP protection, registrations of IP rights, judicial examinations & IP searches. Moreover, Mr. Prokhorov-Lukin before get started his IP carrier, worked for more than 20 years in the field of forensic sciences. Mr. Prokhorov-Lukin is a Doctor of law since 1993. The chief of the first IP examinations laboratory in Ukrainian official bodies system (2004-2011). Grygorii is an author of more than 100 published works, including on intellectual property problems and aspects in Ukraine and abroad. The head of authors’ group who created in Ukraine the first “Manual for judicial examination of trademarks" and "Manual for judicial examination of industrial designs". Page2 .