Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK government announced a package of sanctions that included freezing assets from Russia’s major banks and some export markets. CIPA worked with the government and Civil Service to provide members with up-to-date advice on how to comply with the sanctions and to clarify any areas of confusion.
We created a Russian Sanctions advice page on our website which was regularly updated throughout the year. We ensured that all member queries related to sanctions were resolved and answered. We monitored the government’s response to the situation in Ukraine and liaised with contacts in the UK Intellectual Property Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for International Trade to ensure our members received the most up-to-date information available.
Our thoughts were with all of those affected by the conflict and, in particular, with our friends and colleagues in the National Association of Patent Attorneys of Ukraine (NAPA). Chief Executive Lee Davies wrote to NAPA, on behalf of CIPA Council, to convey solidarity with Ukraine, with NAPA and all Ukrainian IP professionals.
Lee wrote to Dr Andrew Kudin, Director General of Ukrpatent, offering CIPA’s help to rebuild the intellectual property system in Ukraine when the time was right. Lee said that, in conversations with managing partners of some of the biggest IP firms in the UK, he had been promised support such as office space and administrative resources for Ukrainian attorneys who need to continue to work after arriving in the UK. Dr Kudin replied, thanking CIPA for its support and solidarity and he looked forward to future cooperation.
We were delighted to see a number of our members sign up for the Homes for Ukraine programme and were pleased to connect Ukrainian families with them. We are greatly appreciative of their generosity.
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
