The most avoidable way to lose a Ukrainian application is not a refusal on the merits. It is silence. If the examiner's request goes unanswered, the application is deemed withdrawn automatically — but there is a way back, and it has a hard deadline of its own.

How an application is deemed withdrawn

Where the examiner needs clarification or additional material, the Office issues a request. The applicant has two months from receipt to respond.

That period can be extended by up to six further months, provided the request for extension is filed in time and the fee paid.

If nothing is filed within the original or extended period, the application is deemed withdrawn automatically and a notice to that effect is issued. No decision on the merits is ever taken.

Why this is worse than a refusal

A withdrawn application loses its filing date. If a third party files a similar sign for related goods in the meantime, that party now has priority — and the original applicant has nothing to rely on.

For foreign counsel managing a portfolio, this is the practical risk: the loss is not of one application, but of the priority position behind it.

Restoration: six months, and a condition that is easy to underestimate

The law provides a route back. A request for restoration of rights, together with the missing material and the fee, must be filed within six months of expiry of the period for filing the additional material.

The condition that is often overlooked: the applicant must show that due care was taken and that the delay did not result from negligence. This is not a formality. A short statement of the circumstances is worth preparing — correspondence that went astray, illness, a change of representative, a technical failure.

Do not wait until the last day

Filing early within the six-month window reduces the risk of a technical problem with the payment or the submission being fatal. There is no second restoration period.

If the six months also pass

The application cannot be revived. The only route left is a fresh filing, with a new filing date and no connection to the original one — which in a first-to-file system may mean the sign is no longer available at all.

Checking where an application actually stands

If you have inherited a file and are not certain of its status, the position can be checked in the Ukrainian register by application number. We can confirm the stage, the deadlines that have run and what options remain.

Working with us

We act as local counsel for foreign IP firms, including on files that arrive mid-prosecution or after a deadline has been missed. More on how we work with IP firms.