Doubinsky & Osharova’s representatives participated in the roundtable "Patenting of medicines: balance of private and public interests" organized by the UNBA Intellectual Property Committee.
Mykola Pototskyy, counsel of Doubinsky & Osharova and head of the UNBA Intellectual Property Committee, moderated the roundtable.
Mykola noted that the year 2020 brought many changes to the intellectual property system in Ukraine. The objects of patenting have changed, patentability conditions have been clarified, registration procedures have been improved, and the European procedure for issuing supplementary protection certificates has been implemented.
These dramatic changes in the patent system have been coincided with the global pandemic COVID-19, which has not only aggravated the problem of public access to medicines but has also highlighted with particular urgency the importance of innovation in saving lives.
Victoria Sopilnyak, partner of Doubinsky & Osharova, spoke on the discussion panel "The rights of public organizations to take legal action: which infringed right do we protect?”
Based on litigation case and taking into account the judicial practice of the Supreme Court, Victoria analyzed the circumstances that the court must establish when deciding whether the claimant - a public organization, has a right to apply to court, namely:
- the direct interest of the public organization in resolving the issue that is the subject of the claim;
- the purpose of the public organization and its direct relationship to the subject of the claim;
- the interests of which persons are the subject of judicial protection and whether these persons have approached the public organization to protect their rights;
- the good faith of the public organization applying to the court.
In addition, Victoria provided guidance on how to justify the right of a public organization to recourse to the court.