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YourS Partners

legal consultancy in intellectual property and defamation law

Mission

We provide legal and business consulting

Our answer to your question is always the result of analysis not only from a legal perspective, but above all from the perspective of your business processes.
We understand your company, your strategic and tactical goals.
Our experience and our social connections, even beyond the business world, allow us to identify and prevent issues before they become problems.

Our Expertise

Litigation

YourS Partners has extensive experience gained over a quarter of a century of broad representation of clients in various aspects of intellectual property matters, including litigation, transactions, and proceedings before regulatory and other authorities.

We specialise in the full spectrum of intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, plant breeders’ rights, trade secrets, unfair competition, domain names, open-source software, Big Data, privacy protection, and other assets that underpin or are related to intellectual property.

We represent our clients before various courts and in proceedings before the patent office, in Ukraine – UANIPIO, as the registrar of rights to patents, trade marks and industrial designs, including oppositions to the registration of intellectual property rights and cancellation actions. YourS Partners also has extensive experience in handling litigation abroad through a network of partner offices worldwide.

Patents

Thanks to our in-depth analysis and strategic expertise, we help you assess the patentability of your inventions, understand the competitive landscape, and make informed decisions.

A thorough assessment of the prior art and potential obstacles will ensure strong prospects of obtaining a patent for your innovation. By identifying and addressing patentability issues at an early stage, we provide you with clear, strategic guidance to navigate the complexities of the patent process.

A comprehensive freedom-to-operate assessment will ensure the safe launch of innovations on the market. We carry out an in-depth analysis of existing patents and potential infringement risks, offering you insight. By identifying obstacles at an early stage, we help you navigate complexities with confidence.

We develop tailored patent filing strategies, ensuring that your intellectual property receives the strongest possible protection. Close collaboration with you enables us to understand your innovation and business goals and develop a tailored approach that maximises your chances of success. By understanding the complexities and drawing on our extensive experience, we provide you with a clear strategic roadmap.

We advise on potential patent-related transactions, providing you with the information needed to make informed decisions. Whether you are considering licensing, acquisition or partnership opportunities, YourS Partners assesses the relevant patent portfolios, identifies risks and opportunities, and provides strategic advice tailored to your business goals. Using our deep understanding of patent and market dynamics, we help you carry out complex transactions with confidence.

Expert support at every stage of patent prosecution ensures a smooth and efficient process. We help you respond appropriately to office actions, navigate legal complexities and optimise your patent applications by providing personalised support and strategic advice.

Handling contentious proceedings and patent invalidation matters, we provide you with reliable legal representation and strategic advice.

YourS Partners is skilled in resolving complex disputes, providing robust protection of your patent rights and bringing claims against infringers.

Trademarks

YourS Partners specialises in all aspects of registration and provides legal assistance with trademark registration, both in Ukraine and abroad.

We provide a wide range of professional services, including strategic and legal advice on trademark selection, proper use, and the planning and implementation of trademark portfolios in Ukraine and worldwide.

Conducting a trademark search is a critical step in the trade mark registration process, ensuring that your chosen sign is unique and does not infringe existing trademark rights.

YourS Partners uses advanced search tools and databases to conduct thorough searches across various jurisdictions. This includes examining registered trademarks, pending applications and common law trademarks, which may not be listed in official databases. By identifying potential conflicts at an early stage, we help you avoid costly legal disputes and rebranding efforts.

We analyse trademark search results in detail, providing you with a clear assessment of the availability and registrability of your chosen trademark. Our analysis includes assessing the likelihood of confusion with existing trademarks and advising on any necessary changes to enhance the distinctiveness and protectability of your trademark.

By conducting thorough trademark searches, we ensure that your sign has every opportunity for successful registration and long-term protection. Trust YourS Partners to guide you through this important process, providing peace of mind and a solid foundation for your business.

Geographical Indications

Geographical indications are not merely a sign of a product’s origin, but a symbol of quality, tradition and trust. They protect not only the product, but also the reputation of the region, the community and the people who create unique value from generation to generation. At YourS Partners, we support the full cycle of legal protection for geographical indications – from developing the specification to registration, international recognition and commercial use.

We work with producers, associations, public authorities and experts, helping to develop product specifications, prepare documents for submitting specifications to the relevant ministries and applications to UANIPIO, as well as navigate the relevant procedures in the EU. We advise on the use of geographical indications, product certification and protection against the unfair use of geographical indications.

Our experience covers Ukrainian and international cases involving wines, spirits, food products, artisanal goods and even craft products that are gaining cultural recognition. We help clients not only to register a geographical indication, but also to build an economic ecosystem around it – an asset with roots and value.

At YourS Partners, we believe that geographical indications are not merely a right, but also a strategy for the development of local communities, cultural heritage and international recognition. We stand at the intersection of law, tradition and innovation, ensuring that every unique Ukrainian product can be recognised and protected worldwide.

Industrial Designs

We fully understand that the design of products, packaging and advertising is a key element in building and developing brands for companies worldwide.

YourS Partners has many years of experience in handling industrial design applications in Ukraine and abroad. We are pleased to advise our clients on the best ways to protect industrial designs, as well as on the choice of strategies and tactics for filing industrial design applications.

We specialise in preparing applications for industrial design patents/certificates, taking into account the various official requirements in Ukraine and abroad, as well as the client’s strategy and needs.

Strategic Intellectual Property Consulting

According to World Bank estimates, in today’s economy intellectual capital accounts for more than 60% of each country’s total wealth, surpassing the importance of means of production and natural resources. Intellectual property is, in essence, a key factor influencing the value of many technology transactions concluded in recent years.

To make full use of intellectual property, strategic planning must constantly evolve alongside a company’s technological development, business activities and business plan, taking into account existing and anticipated competitors in the relevant markets. The absence of a comprehensive intellectual property strategy that properly addresses know-how and its protection, the protection of all technological aspects of a patent, and the protection of all company designs and brands may impair a company’s ability to establish its true value. In addition, it is also essential to ensure that the development does not infringe the intellectual property of others, as this may have serious consequences.

The strategic advice provided by YourS Partners reflects a broad, interdisciplinary view of intellectual property as a foundation for growth and new business opportunities.

Our expertise is based on extensive experience working with hundreds of businesses, as well as involvement in due diligence procedures and the creation of businesses based on intellectual property. Our advisory services are tailored to the needs, capabilities and goals of each client, and are based on an objective and broad business strategy that creates, preserves and strengthens the value of the company and its products.

Start-ups and Commercial Projects

YourS Partners advises entrepreneurs and start-ups on company formation and the drafting of various agreements, emphasising the importance of protecting the company’s intellectual property even at the early stages.

This concerns the following key agreements and legal instruments:

Corporate agreement between co-founders. Whether the new venture is a partnership or a newly established company, a corporate agreement is necessary to regulate the legal and business relations between the entrepreneurs. It defines the rights and obligations of the partners and covers issues such as: allocation of powers and roles, decision-making mechanisms, financing and funds, intellectual property, including patents, distribution of shares among the company’s partners, and various arrangements for liquidation or separation. Without this document, entrepreneurs/partners may find themselves involved in a number of legal disputes that may impair the proper management of the joint venture, up to and including liquidation, or violate the rights of founders after a new partner or investor joins. The corporate agreement and the decisions made as a result of its signing may have tax consequences that must be taken into account when launching the venture/company.
Articles of Association are an agreement between the company and its members/shareholders, as well as among the shareholders themselves. They regulate various matters relating to the company’s management. In addition to basic information, the Articles of Association should include provisions on the company management mechanism and decision-making process, profit distribution policy, employment of members, anti-dilution protection, terms, the mechanism for liquidation of the company, and the terms for the transfer of corporate rights. These provisions are binding not only on the company’s founders at the time they are drafted, but also on all future members and officers of the company.
Engagement Agreement (Client/Supplier). As a start-up, you are likely to find yourself on both sides of the table, both as a supplier of the product or service you provide and as a client of service providers or vendors of goods. An engagement agreement regulates the obligations and rights of both parties and should be signed before the cooperation begins.
Employment Contract. It defines the parties’ arrangements regarding the rights and obligations of the employee/employer beyond those provided by law or an applicable collective agreement, if any. The contract sets out the duration of the employment relationship, position, the employee’s manager, working days and hours, remuneration, social benefits, and so on. For start-ups, this agreement should address two issues: employee inventions – a clause intended to ensure that intellectual property rights developed by the employee at work belong to the employer; non-compete – a clause intended to prevent the employee from using the company’s trade secrets, such as products under development, a unique list of clients and suppliers, and other intellectual property rights.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). A non-disclosure agreement is usually signed prior to the start of negotiations. This agreement obliges the parties to keep any disclosed confidential information and not to use such information except as provided for in the agreement. Its purpose is to enable the disclosure of ideas, technologies, data or any other confidential information in various business scenarios, such as attracting investors, exploring cooperation opportunities and working with suppliers, in a way that ensures that no sensitive information is leaked. In general, a non-disclosure agreement defines the type of information disclosed, the purpose of disclosure, the limits of its use, the duration of the confidentiality period and what ultimately happens to the information, all of which should be determined on a case-by-case basis. This agreement is particularly important where a patent or industrial design application has not yet been filed, or in cases involving trade secrets, methods or products that cannot be protected through registration.

Terms of Use. Websites and web applications are now ubiquitous. Whether a product or service is sold online, or it is simply a branded website or a content-driven site, terms of use are an important document that reduces the legal risk for a business. They define the rules for using a website or application, depending on the business and its specific activities. Companies that provide products online will seek to limit their liability in relation to product supply, product defects, and similar matters. Many companies also wish the terms of use to specify where and how disputes relating to the services they provide online are to be resolved. Companies that collect user information and are required to comply with privacy and personal data protection laws will include relevant privacy provisions in the terms of use (sometimes on a separate page under “Privacy Policy”), and so on. Terms of Use are an agreement drafted by one party only, the owner of the website or web application, and often do not require active approval by the user. Therefore, to increase the chances of them being recognised as a valid and binding agreement, they should be drafted with the assistance of a lawyer.

Intellectual Property Due Diligence

Due diligence is a comprehensive and in-depth review of the assets, financial position and commercial opportunities of a business or company, aimed at determining whether the company or entrepreneur has real assets with business value, assessing the value of those assets and identifying the extent to which the business is exposed to competitive risk.

Business due diligence is crucial for an entrepreneur or investor considering investing in a company, acquiring a licence to the company’s technology, or before merging the company with another.

Due diligence is important in its own right, but particularly in relation to intellectual property, which in most cases lies at the heart of any business.

Given the high value of intellectual property in the technology world, due diligence should provide all essential information about the company’s intangible assets. This knowledge makes it possible to properly assess the parameters underpinning the business plan, including the net value of the company’s patents and the barriers they create for existing and potential competitors, as well as other barriers such as unique and confidential know-how, and so on.

Our copyright practice offers a full range of legal services to internet and media companies, publishers, authors, musicians and artists. These services cover the protection of musical, literary, artistic, dramatic and cinematographic works, as well as general legal advice for users of copyright-protected materials. Our expertise in this area includes:

Representation of claimants and defendants in copyright infringement litigation.
Providing ongoing advice to publishers, companies and individuals on copyright protection and enforcement.
Advising and representing clients in matters involving agreements with collective rights management organisations.
Providing advice to various organisations on legislative proposals in the field of copyright.
Advising on copyright-related matters to assist clients in developing effective copyright protection strategies.
Structuring agreements for the use of copyright-protected works in television and film production.
Addressing advertising and regulatory matters related to copyright.

Publishing Law

The publishing business stands at the intersection of creativity, law and technology. In this dynamic environment, we help authors, publishers, media companies and distributors protect and develop their content rights. The YourS Partners team supports all stages of the publishing process, from the creation of a work to its publication, distribution and commercialisation, ensuring transparent and balanced legal solutions.

Our experience covers the preparation of author and publishing agreements, licensing agreements, agreements with editors, translators and designers, as well as the legal structuring of relationships between authors and distribution platforms, including online platforms. We advise on related rights, collective management, the use of excerpts from works for educational, scientific and cultural purposes, and represent clients in disputes concerning plagiarism, unauthorised use of texts or covers, breaches of licence terms, and similar matters.

We also support publishing initiatives in the field of academic and scientific publications, from Open Access to international agreements with publishers, reviewers and database aggregators. YourS Partners understands the specific nature of working at the intersection of law, science and publication ethics, from DOI to translation rights, from editing to retraction.

Our approach combines attention to detail with strategic thinking. We do not merely draft agreements; we create a system for protecting publishing activities, where every word has legal weight and every author has confidence in their right to creative freedom.

Performers’ and Musicians’ Rights

Music is energy that creates emotion, shapes culture and, at the same time, is the result of intellectual creative work. At YourS Partners, we help performers, composers, producers and music companies protect their rights in an industry where creativity is closely intertwined with commerce. We understand that, for a musician, it is important not only to create, but also to control their own content: from the first recording to album release or digital distribution.

Our team provides a full range of legal services in music law and related rights: contracts with labels, managers, publishers and streaming platforms; regulation of rights to live and studio recordings; support with collective rights management through organisations that collect royalties; and representation in negotiations and litigation concerning the use of works, remixes, samples or covers.

We combine in-depth knowledge of international practice in the EU and the USA with an understanding of the Ukrainian market, helping clients navigate complex issues of licensing, synchronisation, related rights and digital distribution.

For us, each client is not merely a contract, but a creative story that deserves professional legal support.

Know-how and Trade Secrets

People often protect their proprietary rights by registering a patent for an invention, utility model or industrial design. However, sometimes the fact that information constitutes a trade secret is sufficient for that same information to be entitled to protection even without registration.

YourS Partners advises its clients on the protection of their trade secrets and represents them in litigation brought against infringers, or assists in defending against claims brought by third parties. We also advise our clients on developing a trade secret protection strategy and draft non-disclosure agreements and internal policies.

Plant Breeders’ Rights

New plant varieties are the result of many years of scientific work, observation and creative research. They embody not only agricultural innovation, but also intellectual property that deserves full legal protection. YourS Partners supports breeders, research institutions, agricultural companies and universities in matters relating to the creation, registration and commercialisation of rights to plant varieties in Ukraine and abroad.

We provide a full cycle of legal support: preparing applications for the state registration of varieties, representation before the relevant ministry and international organisations, and structuring licensing agreements. We help clients determine the legal status of created varieties, formalise co-authorship and royalty distribution, and protect breeders’ rights against the unlawful use of seeds or unauthorised propagation of varieties.

A separate area of our practice is support for scientific and public-private partnerships in agri-biotechnology, including the preparation of Material Transfer Agreements, collaborative research agreements and the protection of trade secrets. We also advise on the compatibility of national legislation with EU acts and OECD recommendations on the circulation of plant breeding achievements.

YourS Partners combines knowledge of intellectual property, agricultural and international law. We help breeders not only to register their achievements, but also to turn them into assets that create value, strengthen scientific reputation and contribute to the country’s food independence.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights Online

The dynamic environment of online platforms and e-commerce platforms offers new opportunities for rights holders. However, the Internet also creates threats from counterfeiters and other infringers, who use the same advantages to attract customers.

With the growth of online marketplaces and e-commerce, online threats are not only becoming increasingly widespread, but also increasingly sophisticated. Although many rights holders are still unaware of the scale of online brand abuse, it may adversely affect their revenues, both online and offline. It may also undermine the reputation of their own brand and damage trust in it, further reducing its value.

The reality is that attempts to tackle the problem without an effective online enforcement service will drain resources, money and time with little effect.

Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression is not only a constitutional guarantee, but also the foundation of a democratic society. It encompasses the right to speak, write, create and debate without fear of censorship or persecution. We protect this right as a fundamental dimension of personal and professional freedom: from journalists and academics to artists, civic activists and entrepreneurs shaping the public sphere.

We provide legal support in matters involving the protection of honour, dignity and business reputation, the balance between freedom of expression and the right to privacy, and liability for publications in the media and on social media. We help clients build communication in the public environment in a way that allows them to express their position freely, while remaining within the legal framework and protecting themselves against manipulation and false accusations.

Our experience includes supporting litigation, developing policies for media, academic and cultural institutions, and conducting legal reviews of materials before publication or broadcast. We also advise on the ethical and legal limits of freedom of expression in the digital environment, where words spread instantly and liability becomes global.

Protection of Honour, Dignity and Business Reputation

Honour, dignity and reputation are not merely moral categories, but legal values that determine trust in an individual and the authority of a business. At a time when information spreads instantly and words have the power to shape reality, YourS Partners provides legal protection against defamation, distorted facts and reputational attacks. We help our clients restore justice, protect their name and defend the good name of their company or brand.

Our practice covers the preparation of legal positions in cases involving the dissemination of false information, attacks on the honour, dignity and business reputation of individuals and legal entities, the refutation of publications, and compensation for non-pecuniary damage. We work with traditional media, as well as online platforms, social networks and bloggers, where reputational risks arise quickly and the consequences may be global.

We combine litigation experience with modern crisis communication strategies. We do not merely prepare claims; we help develop comprehensive solutions to restore trust: from official statements to negotiations and mediation. We also advise public figures, academics, entrepreneurs and journalists on the ethical and legal limits of public expression, helping to prevent conflicts before they arise.

What Sets Us Apart

Why Choose Us

01. We are flexible and innovative

Our team has extensive experience, as well as strong cultural and professional traditions. We are committed to continuous learning and to sharing knowledge within our team, while from time to time stepping outside our legal bubble. This is what makes us not only skilled lawyers, but human beings too.

02. Scientific activity lends weight to our expertise

Our academic and practical publications, as well as commentaries on the laws on which we advise, regularly appear in academic journals in Ukraine and abroad. We are consulted by international institutions such as the UN and the Council of Europe, where we act as experts. We participate in work on legislative proposals, teach at Ukrainian and foreign universities, and deliver lecture courses on intellectual property law. This means that we are always up to date.

03. We provide results

The main criterion of success is the result. We always focus on positive long-term outcomes that are the fruit of short-term achievements.