New official fees to be implemented following accession to WTO

New official fees for IP rights will come into force on the date on which Ukraine becomes a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The new official fees were approved by the government in Resolution 1148/2007.

On February 5 2008 the General Council of the WTO approved the accession terms of Ukraine at its session in Geneva. Ukraine must ratify the arrangement by July 4 2008 and will become a WTO member 30 days after the ratification.

According to the resolution, the same fees will apply to all applicants and IP rights owners regardless of their country of residence. At present, the official fees depend on the annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the country of residence of the applicant or IP rights owner. The countries are divided into two groups based on World Bank statistics:

• countries with an annual GDP of less than $3,000; and
  
  
• countries with an annual GDP of more than $3,000.

The changes introduced by the resolution will mainly concern the amount of the official fees. The basic official fees for trademark registration will be as follows:

• official filing fee for trademarks in black and white for each international class: €135 (additional fee of €68 for marks in colour); and
  
  
• official publication fee for trademarks in black and white for each international class: €20 (additional fee of €13 for marks in colour).
  

The resolution also establishes official fees for other procedures in connection with trademark registration, including:

• changes to applications;
  
  
• term extensions; and
  
  
• the registration of assignment and licensing agreements.

Under the new resolution, there will be a 10% discount in the filing fee if an electronic copy of the application is attached to the hard copy, and a 20% discount if the trademark search report is included in the application.

Although the new official fees are set in the Ukrainian currency, residents of foreign countries will be able to pay in US dollars or in euros based on the official exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine as of the date of payment.

Galina Mykolenko, Konnov & Sozanovsky, Kiev