UKRAINE Law and Practice Contributed by: Oleksandr Mamunya, Ganna Prokhorova, Nataliia Badora and Ihor Kharytonov, Mamunya IP
1.7 Third-Party Rights to Participate in Grant Proceedings During examination of an application for inven- tion, any person may submit a reasoned pre- grant opposition. Such pre-grant opposition shall be filed with the UA PTO within six months as from the application’s publication date in the Official Bulletin. This term may not be renewed or extended. An official fee should be paid for filing an opposition. The UA PTO sends an oppo- sition to the patent applicant. A patent applicant may file a response to such opposition within two months as from receiving the notification of opposition from the UA PTO. In addition, an applicant may either attempt to refute an opposition or amend/withdraw the pat- ent application. The results of consideration of an opposition are recorded in the motivated examiner’s opinion on an application. The UA PTO sends its decision and the examiner’s opinion to the person who filed the opposition. After information regarding the patent applica- tion is published, any person may also file their observations on whether the invention complies with the patentability requirements. No filing fee is required for filing such observations. The UA PTO sends an observation to the applicant. 1.8 Remedies Against Refusal to Grant an Intellectual Property Right An applicant may appeal refusal to grant a pat- ent to the Chamber of Appeals of the UA PTO or to the courts within two months, either as from receipt of the refusal or as from receipt of copies of materials opposed to the application. The official fee shall be paid for filing an appeal. An applicant may also appeal a decision of the Chamber of Appeals to the courts within two
months as from the decision date. Subsequent- ly, a decision of a first instance court may be appealed to the Court of Appeals and, further, to the Court of Cassation. 1.9 Consequences of Failure to Pay Annual Fees The intellectual property rights to an invention/ utility model shall expire on the first day of the year for which the fee has not been paid. Howev- er, the Patent Law provides for a grace period of 12 months during which a patent holder may still pay the fee. In this case, the annual fee amount is increased by 50%. Upon payment of the fee, validity of intellectual property rights to an inven- tion/utility model is restored. 1.10 Post-Grant Proceedings Available to Owners of Intellectual Property Rights After a patent is granted, a holder may at any time waive the rights confirmed by the patent in whole or in part within the published claims. For this purpose, a patent holder submits a respec- tive request with the UA PTO. A partial waiver may occur through, inter alia, introducing amendments to an independent claim. However, such amendment may only reduce rather than increase the scope of legal protection confirmed by a patent. The UA PTO examines a new edition of claims for compliance with the requirements of the law. An official fee is paid for such examination. Amendments to the claims take effect from the date of their official publication.
542 CHAMBERS.COM
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