The roundtable “Competition to the High Court on Intellectual Property: What participants can expect from?” was held
On 8th of November 2017, the roundtable “Competition to the High Court on Intellectual Property: What participants can expect from?” was organized with a support of the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine, the EU Project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” and the Ukrainian Bar Association.
The Chairman of the Commission Mr. Sergii Koziakov addressed the participants of the discussion and noted that it is necessary to accelerate the process of establishing the High Court on Intellectual Property. “We need to speed up the pace of establishment of the High Court on Intellectual Property, an institution that still does not exist in many countries. Of course, some courts are successful projects. This should help us. We cannot do worse”.
In turn, the head of the EU project “Support to Justice Sector Reforms in Ukraine” Mr. Dovydas Vitkauskas emphasized: “The introduction of specialization in intellectual property issues will not only help to settle unresolved disputes but will also improve the country’s relations with international partners and will increase the confidence of investors”.
According to the head of the State Judicial Administration Mr. Zenovii Kholodniuk, the number of judges of the High Court on Intellectual Property is 21. Concerning the apparatus, the proportion is planned to be 5:1, where 5 employees of the apparatus will assist for 1 judge.
Retired judge Mr. Viktor Moskalenko is convinced that the establishment of the High Court on Intellectual Property in Ukraine will help to solve two problems. First is the practical separation of cases of such jurisdiction. “One cannot tolerate the fact that intellectual property cases are scattered over several jurisdictions, and this issue is still relevant”, – said Mr. Viktor Moskalenko. Second, the creation of such court, in his opinion, will provide protection of intellectual property and the formation of a fair judicial practice. “Taking into account these changes, it will be possible to talk about the creation of a protection system of intellectual property in accordance with the international standards. Such court should consider all cases that arise from the specified legal relationships, except for criminal cases”, - said the speaker.
Director of the Research Institute of Intellectual Property of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Law, and Professor Ms. Olena Orliuk has acquainted the participants of the roundtable with the position of court practice in cases of violation of intellectual property rights. “According to the information of the SRCD of Ukraine, during 2006–2015, the total number of cases reviewed by the courts of all jurisdictions on violation of rights of intellectual property objects is 18104, of which 6803 – the cases of violation of rights to objects of copyright and related rights, 11301 – on violation of rights to industrial property objects”, - noted the specialist.
Analyzing the foreign experience, the speaker drew attention to the Federal Patent Court of the Federal Republic of Germany, which during the year deals with about 4,5 thousand new cases, of which an average of 3,5 thousand leads to new trials (lawsuits and appeals), others – do not require a trial. The staff of this institution is about 140 judges working in 29 court departments. According to Ms. Olena Orliuk, this allows concluding that the patent court is one of the largest federal courts in Germany. The structure of its Senate, which deals with legal protection, technical solutions, includes not only lawyers but also so-called patent experts, who, like the members of the Senate with legal education, have the status of a judge. “There are 21 judges in Ukraine, 9 of which will represent the appeal,” – said Ms. Orliuk.
The last section of the roundtable was devoted to the procedure of selection and qualification assessment of candidates for positions of judge of the High Court on Intellectual Property.
Member of the Commission Mr. Stanislav Shchotka informed the participants about the procedures for the selection and qualification assessment of candidates for the position of judges of the High Court of Intellectual Property. He recalled that the judge of a patent court, in addition to the required length of service, should also have a legal education. The speaker recommended concentrating the attention on the documents confirming the experience and specialization of the candidate, as well as on the declarations, the order of their filling and submission.
Mr. Sergii Koziakov, completing the roundtable, gave a few tips to the candidates. In particular, he noted that psychologists are not advised to undergo any psychological tests or training before psychological testing. Also, the Chairman of the Commission recommended that the process of conducting interviews with candidates from the videotapes of the competition to the Supreme Court be examined in details: what questions are put by the members of the Commission, what answers are given by the candidates, how the candidates respond to the “awkward” questions of the Commission, which are being addressed by the members of the PIC during the interviews. “Such experience should help to complete the stages of the competition successfully”, - he emphasized.
