CLDP, in cooperation with the National School of Judges and the Higher Commercial Court of Ukraine, organized six days of consultations for 10 judges from commercial courts and appeals courts throughout Ukraine as well as the Vice Rector from the National School of Judges. The judges met with USPTO, the Federal Judicial Center, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (CFC), and U.S. District Courts in Maryland and Virginia. The judicial delegation engaged in interactive discussions utilizing country-specific case studies and U.S. case law on patent and copyright infringement, calculation of damages, judicial case management, judicial trainings, collective copyright management, electronic evidence, and unfair competition.

As part of the consultations, the delegation met with CAFC Chief Judge Randall Rader and CFC Senior Judge Bohdan Futey and had a frank discussion with Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Olexander Motsyk. The judges participated in an interactive exercise during their visit to the District Court in Maryland when they served as the jury in an ongoing copyright and trademark case. At the conclusion of the program, the judges unanimously agreed that the knowledge and skills gained during these consultations will be utilized in their work and shared with their colleagues. CLDP facilitated a discussion about future IP judicial trainings, as well as trainings on bankruptcy and use of technology in the courtroom.

The anticipated long term outcome is that Ukrainian judges will further develop the skills necessary to fairly, efficiently, and effectively adjudicate intellectual property infringement cases. This judicial training program will help produce predictable, harmonized, and efficient adjudication of IP infringement cases across Ukraine.