Ukraine has adopted a new framework that formalises the public sector’s approach to intellectual property (IP) management and points to a more structured treatment of IP in defence contracting.
On 10 April 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Policy on the Management of IP in the Defence-Industrial Complex of Ukraine (in Ukrainian), which primarily addresses state customers and state-sector entities in Ukraine’s defence-industrial complex, but is relevant to private businesses active in military and dual-use markets, mandating that defence procurement contracts and other contracts with private counterparties be compliant with IP legislation.
The Policy links IP rights protection to commercialisation, creation of nurturing environment for investments, innovation, and effective procurement as well as state interests. It identifies the export potential of the defence-industrial complex as a strategic guideline that must respect third-party IP rights.
The Policy also brings legal certainty to IP relations in defence and defence procurement, although in its current form the practical implications remain unclear and are subject to follow-on regulation and enforcement.
The Policy requires state customers and state-sector entities to do the following:
- conclude licence agreements for the use of IP rights objects;
- use the unified information system;
- ensure contractual regulation of cases involving the use of relevant IP objects;
- take measures for enforcement in case of IP right violation, ensure timely registration; and
- maintain the validity of IP rights.
The following factors are expected to shape requirements for procurement and other contracts in defence as well as expectations placed on suppliers:
- principles of competition;
- balance between state and profit-making business interests;
- civil control of the defence sector;
- effective centralisation and decentralisation in IP objects management; and
- balance between openness and protection of restricted information.
The Policy introduces a unified information system for R&D, IP results, military-purpose and dual-use technologies, and design documentation for military-purpose products. However, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is yet to determine the rules for the functioning of this System, nor has it decided what information private businesses can or should access or contribute to (if any at all).
For now, the Policy is a framework whose full effect will be set by future regulations.
For the present, stakeholders should watch out for the following:
- the development of supporting regulation on the System by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine;
- changes to procurement and other contract templates that are expected to include more detailed IP allocation and compliance provisions;
- further Legal Updates on the IP regulation in the defence sector in Ukraine by CMS experts.
For more information on the regulation of the defence sector in Ukraine and associated IP implications, contact your CMS client partner or the CMS experts who contributed to this article: Vitaliy Radchenko, Maria Orlyk.
