| Activities Update on Ukraine's Law on Advertising 3 October 2003 This memorandum is an update on recent legislative initiatives undertaken by the CIPR Ukraine team to amend the recently passed Law of Ukraine “On Advertising,” particularly Article 6 of the law, which requires that registered trademarks be duplicated into Ukrainian in all forms of advertising. As you are aware, despite international and business opposition President Leonid Kuchma signed the bill “On Advertising” into law on September 15, 2003, with some modifications. Shortly thereafter, the CIPR Ukraine Team approached the author of the advertising law, MP Artemenko (not to be confused with the author of article 6 MP Havrysh) to propose an amendment to the recently adopted law. Mr. Artemenko agreed to initiate the amendment, which was registered in the Parliament and referred to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information on September 23. The proposed language for Article 6, as submitted by MP Artemenko reads as follows: - Usage of language in advertising is carried out according the Law of Ukraine “On Languages”.
- Marks for goods and services, protected by the legislation of Ukraine, are used in their original in advertising.
In addition, CIPR is closely cooperatiNG with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Science and Education Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, so that they are fully in the loop and can lobby the interests of trademark owners. Here we intend to work out not only an alternative option in case MP Artemenko’s amendments are not supported in the Rada, but also ensure that no law is passed without Committee vetting, as was the case in the past. CIPR Ukraine is scheduling a news briefing at the State Department for Intellectual Property (SDIP) on 9 October 2003, to once again draw attention to the legal collision caused by Article 6 requiring that trademarks be duplicated into Ukrainian and offer CIPR’s recommendation on how to resolve the issue. A preliminary list of participants in the news conference includes: SDIP, VR Committee on Science and Education Subcommittee on IP, INTA and CIPR. We are pleased that CIPR members and their IP experts on the ground and in the region have joined CIPR’s forces on amending article 6 of the advertising law. CIPR Ukraine will continue to monitor the issue and will keep you informed on further developments as they occur. | 
