UKRAINE'S ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION: LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PRECONDITIONS

Abstract

Ukraine's European integration in the field of intellectual property protection requires a comprehensive reconsideration of the national system for the protection of inventions and its adaptation to the European patent area. A key component of this process is Ukraine's potential accession to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973 (European Patent Convention, EPC), which would mean not only the introduction of an additional route for obtaining patent protection, but also the country's entry into the institutional framework of the European Patent Organisation. The article argues that accession to the EPC should be treated as a comprehensive legal and institutional reform capable of reshaping the functions of the national patent office, the structure of patent examination, interaction with applicants and the role of the national patent system in innovation policy. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between the EPC and European Union law. The study demonstrates that the EPC does not form part of the EU acquis and that membership in the European Patent Organisation is not, as a matter of formal law, a prerequisite for accession to the European Union. Nevertheless, the practice of EU Member States reveals a stable model in which participation in the EPC has become a significant institutional component of integration into the European research, technological and innovation area. The potential consequences for the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations are analysed, including the redistribution of filing activity between national and European routes, the risk of erosion of examination expertise, and opportunities to refocus the Office on high-quality examination, patent information services, digitalisation and international cooperation. On the basis of a comparative analysis of Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, the article shows that EPC membership does not produce a single institutional model for national patent offices: its effects depend on the economic structure of the state, institutional quality, human-capital policy and the chosen integration strategy. The article proposes an original three-level model for Ukraine's preparation for EPC accession, comprising normative, institutional and functional adaptation. It is argued that gradual implementation of this model before ratification can reduce the risks of institutional weakening and transform membership in the European Patent Organisation into an instrument for qualitative modernisation of the Ukrainian patent system. The study also identifies the procedural preconditions for accession, including an invitation by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation, synchronisation of domestic implementation with the date on which the Convention enters into force for Ukraine, and preservation of UANIPIO's international examination capacity as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.