Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) officially addressed the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

The Russian Federation, supported by the Republic of Belarus, continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity on the territory of Ukraine, systematically violating the principles and norms of the international law. A number of law associations, such as IBA, ABA and NYSBA have condemned the violence, aggression and crimes of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian legal society in its majority supports and encourages the actions of the President Putin and the full-scale war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Bar Association believes that lawyers, who should serve the rule of law and protect human rights, breach their oath and betray their values when they encourage or turn a blind eye at atrocities, injustice and war crimes committed by their government.

In view of the above, the UBA have urged INTA and AIPPI to:

— Deprive all existing Russian Belarussian members of INTA and AIPPI membership;

— Stop accepting any new membership applications from Russian and Belarussian practitioners and entities;

— Exclude all Russian and Belarussian practitioners from INTA and AIPPI governing bodies and committees;

— Ban all Russian and Belarussian practitioners from attending the forthcoming INTA Annual Meeting in April-May 2022, as well as any further events organized by INTA and AIPPI.

Full text of the respective communications can be accessed at the official UBA website: INTA and AIPPI.