Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 4-5 / 2023
ISSN (Print) 2308-0361
ISSN (Online) 2519-2744
PDF (Ukrainian)DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/4-52023.289640
Submitted 2023-07-18
Accepted 2023-08-03
Published 2023-10-25
Pro bono patent program: foreign experience for Ukraine
Gennadiy Androshchuk
Ph.D. (Economics), Associate Professor, Chief Researcher of the Department of industrial property and commercialization of intellectual property objectsof the Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0781-9740
Oleksandr Doroshenko
Ph.D. (Law), judicial expert, director of the Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2542-2328
Abstract
The foreign practice of providing free legal assistance in the field of intellectual property (IP), in particular patent law, in the USA, the EU, and the WIPO Inventors Assistance Program was studied. The economic and legal aspects of the organization of activities under the Patent Pro Bono program, its effectiveness, were considered, and recommendations were made for the introduction of this experience into the IP law system of Ukraine. The Patent Pro Bono Program is a nationwide network of independent regional programs coordinated by the US Patent and Trademark Office that pairs volunteer practitioners with inventors to secure patent protection. Together, they cover the entire country. As part of the Patent Pro Bono program, more than 3,800 inventors have found a patent specialist. Since 2015, these lawyers have filed nearly 2,000 patent applications on behalf of their clients on a pro bono basis. The WIPO Inventors Assistance Program helps inventors and small businesses with limited resources turn their innovations into commercial assets. EUIPO’s European pro bono program covers virtually all aspects and services of intellectual property, including assistance with applications for patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, plant varieties, geographical indications, trade secrets, and domain names, as well as licensing, enforcement, franchising, and technical transfer of IP rights. It is necessary to create a nationwide network of independently managed Pro Bono programs – Patent Pro Bono Program, which is coordinated by the Ukrainian National Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation, a coordinating council, translate a special online course for inventors developed by WIPO, best practice guides, use the experience and opportunities of the Assistance Program WIPO inventors. This issue is particularly relevant in connection with the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the introduction of martial law, as well as the need to develop a strategy for Ukraine’s post-war recovery. The war led to a burst of technical creativity of the creative part of Ukrainian society, as a result of which, a large number of technical solutions were created aimed at improving samples of weapons and military equipment, means of protecting the civilian population, etc.
Keywords: intellectual property, inventor, patent, pro bono assistance, patent attorney
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