On September 18, 2024, the Rules for drawing up, submitting a trademark application, application for international trademark registration, and conducting the examination of a trademark application, international trademark registration with extension to Ukraine entered into force.
The new rules comply with the provisions of the Singapore Agreement and the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement; implement the EU standards stipulated by the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU; take into account certain provisions of the Acquis communautaire, which has an important European integration meaning, because trademark registration is one of the main stages of promoting the products of Ukrainian manufacturers to European markets.
In particular, new forms and requirements for trademark applications were approved; the procedure for submitting national applications for trademarks and international applications for trademark registration was defined; specified application of the grounds for refusal to grant legal protection to a trademark.
Among the main differences is a change in the list of information required about the applicant – individuals must additionally provide passport data and a taxpayer number; from legal entities, additionally specify the registration number.
The requirements for submitting applications for registration of three-dimensional, combined, sound, positional, motion, holographic, and multimedia marks, as well as color or a combination of colors, are also specified. For example, along with specifying the name of the color, it is necessary to specify its number in accordance with the internationally recognized color identification system, for example, the Pantone Matching System, RAL, and Focoltone color scale.
In addition, it is possible to indicate a disclaimer at the stage of submitting an application, and not at the stage of examination, as was the case before.