The Cabinet of Ministers has suggested that the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, improve the mechanism for the protection of intellectual property rights in Ukraine.
A relevant draft law, No. 2056a, introducing amendments to the Law on
the Distribution of Copies of Audiovisual Works, Audio and Video
Recordings, Software and Databases, was submitted by the government to
parliament on May 17.
The bill, in particular, suggests that the official Web site of the
State Intellectual Property Service post a list of copies of audiovisual
works, audio and video recordings, computer programs, databases and
others with the names of applicants in relation to which there is a
decision to issue control marks (special labels with a hologram
confirming compliance with copyrights), as well as with the date of the
issue of the marks, their series and number.
According to the draft law, subjects of copyrights and related
rights, in the event of a suspected violation of their rights, will be
able to contact the owners of control marks and the State Intellectual
Property Service with a request for action to eliminate the violation.
The explanatory note to the bill says that the adoption of the
amendments to the abovementioned law is predetermined by a number of
problematic issues in the current wording of the law, which has not been
changed since 2003.
The main purpose of the legislation is to provide an additional
mechanism for handing violations of copyright and related rights in
Ukraine.
As reported, in its annual special report in early May 2013 the U.S.
Trade Representative placed Ukraine at the top of the list of countries
that fail to provide effective legal protections for intellectual
property.
