IP Disputes

– Types of disputes

– Pre-trial settlement of disputes

– Dispute resolution in courts

– Administrative protection

– Resolution of domain name disputes in accordance with the UDRP and UA-DRP procedures

Synergy specialists – attorneys, patent attorneys, lawyers – deal daily with the protection of infringed intellectual property rights. Understanding the client’s needs, experience, meticulous strategy development, and non-standard approach in difficult situations are the keys to successful protection of rights by the agency’s specialists.

What disputes do we resolve?

Any possible disputes and conflicts, the subject of which is intellectual and related rights. The most common types of disputes:

  1. Infringement of copyright and related rights i.e. the use of photos, images, texts of others’, including on the Internet, without permission;
  2. Illegal use of other people’s trademarks on goods, signboards, advertising, including websites and domain names;
  3. Copying of designs such as packaging, interiors, website interface etc.;
  4. Infringement of patent rights;
  5. Conflicts between authors, successors, and co-owners over the ownership of intellectual property rights, former business partners;
  6. Disputes about the execution or termination of agreements concerning objects of intellectual property rights;
  7. Appeals against certificates and patents issued in violation of the rights of third parties;
  8. Appeals against certificates and patents for objects that do not meet the conditions of legal protection.
  9. Termination of trademark rights due to non-use by the owner.
  10. Disputes related to protection against unfair competition, including copying the appearance of a product or commodity, collection, disclosure and use of company secrets.
  11. Domain name disputes arising between the owner of a commercial name or trademark, the original name or character of the work and the owner (registrant) of the domain name.

Effective conflict resolution

Ways to resolve disputes

Pre-trial settlement of disputes

Our favorite way to resolve any conflicts is the pre-trial approach on the basis of letters of claim and demand. In 90% of cases, disputes arising from infringement of intellectual property rights can be resolved by sending a well-grounded claim to the infringer. This combating method is especially effective in the case of infringing copyright and trademark rights on the Internet. This allows the client to save a lot of money and time on red tape with the involvement of administrative or judicial authorities.

The agency takes full control of the entire conflict resolution process i.e. develops a defense strategy, collects evidence, conducts test purchases, identifies the infringer, prepares and sends a claim, negotiates with the infringer and monitors compliance with the requirements to eliminate the infringement.

IP rights violated? Call us for help!

Disputes resolution in courts

Some types of disputes cannot be resolved without appealing to the court. For example, invalidation or termination of a security document, invalidation of a contract, invalidation of the decision of a state body, etc.

Preparation for participation in the trial involves developing an optimal defense strategy, collecting evidence, and verifying all documents and facts. In conducting court proceedings, attorneys and lawyers of the agency make every effort and use all procedural opportunities to achieve the client’s outcome.

 
Administrative protection

Administrative protection involves applying for defense of rights to state bodies that supervise the compliance with such rights. Such bodies include:

– Patent Office, which carries out state supervision (control) over compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of intellectual property.

– Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Detects warns and stops violations of the law on unfair competition, namely actions in competition that contradict trade and other honest practices in economic activity.

– State Customs Service of Ukraine

Takes measures in the field of protection of intellectual property rights to prevent crossing the customs border of Ukraine of counterfeit goods, which may contain objects of copyright and related rights, trademark rights, industrial designs and geographical indications protected by Ukrainian law, and maintains a customs register of intellectual property rights.

– The Internal Affairs Bodies

Carry out operational and investigative measures related to the detection of infringements of intellectual property rights, conduct inspections to identify the facts of infringement of intellectual property rights, detect and terminate infringements in the field of intellectual property.

– Administrative court

Protects the rights of individuals and legal entities in the field of public and patent relations from infringement by public authorities, local governments, their officials and executives or other entities carrying out government management functions.

You can rely on us in disputes of any complexity.

 
Resolution of domain name disputes in accordance with the UDRP and UA-DRP procedures

Concerning cybersquatters grabbing domain names, disputes can be efficiently and quickly resolved with the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). This applies to generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net, .org, etc., as well as some national domains (ccTLDs).

Following the .UA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UA-DRP), the following procedures may be used to deal with the second level .UA domain disputes and the third level .COM.UA, KYIV.UA, KIEV.UA, IVANO-FRANKIVSK.UA, IF.UA, POLTAVA.UA, PL.UA, UZHGOROD.UA, UZ.UA domain disputes.

Disputes under the UDRP procedure are resolved at the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The key to success in resolving a domain name dispute is the simultaneous existence of three elements:

1) the domain name is identical or similar to the degree of confusion with your trademark; and

2) the domain owner has no rights or legitimate interests in relation to the domain name; and

3) the domain name has been registered and used in bad faith.

If all three elements are present, you can readily demand the cancellation or transfer (re-delegation) of the infringer’s domain name.

Advantages of the UDRP procedure:

– short terms for dispute resolution – 2 months;

– submission of the application in an electronic format;

– no need to participate in the process personally;

– significantly lower expenses for the procedure as compared with the prosecution of the case in court.

Ask for a free case review