1. Formal examination

During the formal examination, the application submission date is established, and the application is checked to see if it complies with the formal requirements of the current rules on drawing up and submitting an application, and it is also checked to see if it complies with the established requirements for confirmation of payment of the application fee.

1.1. Submission of a document on payment of application fee to the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) (if it was not done when the application was submitted)

The document on payment of application fee shall be submitted to the NIPO within two months from the date of application submission. This term can be extended for six months if a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid before it expires. In the event of violation of these requirements, the application is considered as withdrawn, and the NIPO provides a corresponding notification regarding such withdrawal.

1.2. Priority can be claimed (if it was not done during submission of the application)

Priority may be claimed when submitting an application or within three months from the date of submitting an application as follows:

- according to the date of the preliminary application for the same trademark on the same goods and services (provided that six months have not passed since the date of submission of the preliminary application, and that such a preliminary application was submitted to the NIPO or to the relevant authority of a country that is a party to the Paris Convention or is a member party to the Agreement on the Establishment of the World Trade Organization);

- according to the date of the first open demonstration at an official or officially recognized international exhibition of an exhibit in which a trademark is used or presented for the same goods and services (provided that six months have not passed since the date of demonstration, and that the exhibition took place on the territory of a country that is a party to the Paris Convention or is a member country that is party to the Agreement on the Establishment of the World Trade Organization).

1.3. Establishment of application date by the NIPO

The NIPO provides a Notification of established date of application submission, provided that the application contains the following:

- a request for trademark registration in Ukrainian;

- information about the applicant and their address in Ukrainian;

- a list of goods and services that a trademark is applied for in Ukrainian;

- a clear image of the designation claimed as trademark;

- confirmation of fee payment for submission of the application.

If the application does not contain any of the listed documents, except for the confirmation of application fee payment, the NIPO shall notify the applicant of such a situation. If the discrepancy is resolved within two months from the date of receipt of the notification, the date of receipt of the corrected documents shall be considered as the date of submission of the application. Otherwise, the application is considered as not submitted, and a corresponding notification is provided to indicate that.

1.4. Publication of the application

The NIPO shall publish the application within five working days from the date of issuance of the Notification of established date of application submission. After the publication of information about the application, any party has the right to become familiarised with the materials used in the application.

1.5. Three-month period for possible submission to the NIPO of a reasoned Objection against the application by other parties

Within three months from the date of publication of the application, any party (subject to payment of the appropriate fee) may submit to the NIPO a reasoned Objection against the application regarding non-compliance of the designation specified in it with the conditions on granting legal protection. The NIPO sends a copy of the objection to the applicant. The applicant can inform the NIPO of their standpoint regarding the objection within two months from the date of its receipt. They can refute objections and leave the application unchanged, they can make changes to the application, or they can withdraw it. Consideration of the Objection against the application, and consideration of the applicant's response to it is carried out during the qualification examination (substantive examination).

1.6. Conclusion of the formal examination

If the application complies with the current rules for drawing up and submitting the application, the NIPO provides a Notice on compliance of the application with formal requirements.

In the event of the application not complying with the formal requirements of the current rules for drawing up and submitting the application, or in the event of non-compliance of the fee paid for submitting the application with the established requirements, the NIPO issues a notice with proposals for eliminating the deficiencies. If the deficiencies relate to a group of goods and services, the notice shall include a list of the goods and services specified by the NIPO and, if necessary, the sum of the application fee to be paid additionally. If the product or service is described in the application in terminology that does not allow it to be assigned to a certain class of the Nice Classification NCL, the applicant is invited to replace such terminology or to exclude it. If the applicant does not comply with this requirement, then the specified term is not included in the list of goods and services grouped by the NIPO.

During the formal examination and the qualification examination of the application, the NIPO may require the provision of additional materials if the examination is impossible without such materials or in the event of there being reasonable doubt regarding the authenticity of any information or elements contained in the application materials.

The elimination of deficiencies specified in the notification by the NIPO or the provision of additional materials requested by the NIPO shall be carried out within two months from the date of receipt of the relevant notification by NIPO. In the event of violation of this term, the application is considered as withdrawn, and the NIPO provides a corresponding notification regarding such withdrawal. This term can be extended for six months if a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid before it expires. If this period elapses, but within six months from expiration of the period a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid, the applicant's rights regarding the application are restored.

2. Qualification examination (substantive examination)

During the qualification examination, compliance of the declared designation with the conditions for granting legal protection is checked, and the submitted objections are taken into consideration. At the same time, a search and verification are carried out regarding similarity of the applied trademark with trademarks previously submitted and already registered under the national and Madrid procedures. The reference and search system along with applicable official publications are also used in the examination. A submitted objection is considered within the scope of the reasoning set forth in it and taking into account the applicant's response if submitted within the prescribed period. The results of the examination of the objection are noted in the conclusion of the application examination. A copy of the decision by NIPO made on the basis of such a conclusion of the examination is sent to the party that submitted the objection.

2.1. A preliminary conclusion of the qualification examination is possible concerning non-compliance of the declared designation with the conditions for granting legal protection

A preliminary conclusion regarding non-compliance of the declared designation with the conditions for granting legal protection is provided in full or in part with a justification and if there are grounds to believe that the declared designation does not meet the conditions for granting legal protection determined by current legislation for all or part of the goods and services specified in the application. Such a conclusion must contain an exhaustive list of reasons for non-compliance of the declared designation with the conditions for granting legal protection. This conclusion can be provided only once and must contain an opportunity offered to provide a reasoned response in favour of trademark registration.

A reasoned response in favor of trademark registration shall be provided by the applicant within two months from the date of receipt of the corresponding Preliminary conclusion by NIPO. In the event of violation of this term, the application is considered as withdrawn, and NIPO provides a corresponding notification regarding such withdrawal. This term can be extended for six months if a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid before it expires. If this period elapses, but within six months from expiration of the period a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid, the applicant's rights regarding the application are restored.

2.2. Final conclusion of the qualification examination

Based on the results of the qualification examination, taking into account consideration of the available reasoned response to the preliminary conclusion and the available response to the objection, after expiration of the deadline to submit the stated reasoned response by the applicant, the NIPO shall issue one of the final conclusions:

- Conclusion on compliance of the trademark with the conditions for granting legal protection for all goods and services specified in the application;

- Conclusion on compliance of the trademark with the conditions for granting legal protection for part of the goods and services specified in the application;

- Conclusion on non-compliance of the trademark with the conditions for granting legal protection for all goods and services specified in the application.

2.3. Decision by NIPO based on the results of examination of the application

Along with provision of a final conclusion for the qualification examination, NIPO provides the corresponding decision:

- Decision to register trademark regarding all goods and services specified in the application;

- Decision to register trademark for part of the goods and services specified in the application and refusal to register a trademark for the rest of the goods and services specified in the application;

- Decision on refusal to register a trademark for all goods and services specified in the application.


If the NIPO made a positive decision on Trademark Registration regarding all goods and services specified in the application, or made a positive decision on Trademark Registration for part of the goods and services specified in the application and refused trademark registration for the rest of the goods and services specified in the application, taking into account the results of the review of the Objection against the application, consideration of the application is suspended until expiry of the two-month period established for a possible appeal against such a decision by the party who filed the Objection against the application.

The applicant or party who filed an Objection against the application may appeal the NIPO’s decision by submitting an application to the Appeals Chamber within two months from the date of receipt of the NIPO’s decision.

3. Publication of certificate issuance and national registration of trademark

3.1. Submission to the NIPO of document on payment of publication fee for certificate issuance, and of document on state duty payment for issuance of the certificate

A document on payment of publication fee for certificate issuance is submitted to the NIPO within three months from the date of receipt of the Trademark Registration Decision.

A document on payment of state duty for the issuance of the certificate is submitted to the NIPO within three months from the date of receipt of the Trademark Registration Decision.

If the specified conditions regarding the terms and amounts of the fee or duty are violated, the publication is not carried out, and the application is considered withdrawn. The term of submission of each of the specified documents can be extended for six months if a corresponding request is submitted and the fee for its submission is paid before its expiration. If the deadline for receipt of the document on payment of state duty or payment of the fee is missed for valid reasons, the applicant's rights regarding the application may be restored if the corresponding request is submitted within six months from the expiration of the specified period together with the document on payment of state duty and payment of the fee for publication of the issuance certificate as well as the fee for submitting such a request.

3.3. Publication of information on issuance of a Trademark Certificate

The NIPO publishes information on the issuance of a Trademark Certificate based on the Trademark Registration Decision, along with a document on payment of state duty for issuance of the certificate and the publication fee for issuance of the certificate.

3.4. National registration of a trademark

At the same time as publishing information on the issuance of a Trademark Certificate, the NIPO carries out the national registration of the trademark, for which it enters the corresponding information into the National Register.

4. Issuance of a trademark certificate

The Trademark Certificate is issued by the NIPO within one month after national registration of the trademark. The certificate is issued to the person who has the right to obtain and receive it. If multiple persons have the right to obtain and receive a certificate, one single certificate is issued to them.