The article is devoted to the coverage of the issue of criminal - legal protection of intellectual property at the present stage of state development. Some issues of optimization of the ratio of criminal – legal and civil – legal protection of intellectual property, the issue of differentiation of criminal – legal protection of personal non-property and / or property rights of intellectual property to literary, artistic and other work (copyright) and personal non-property and / or property intellectual property rights for performance, phonogram, videogram and program (transfer) of broadcasting organization (related rights). Unambiguous interpretation, logical wording in determining the signs and boundaries of socially dangerous acts and a clear relationship with other legal norms inevitably affect the correctness of law enforcement, provided that the legal constructions cover legal relations enshrined in the form of criminal offenses, delimiting criminal behavior from other actions and inaction . However, the effectiveness of the mechanism and legal effectiveness of criminal – legal protection of intellectual property, the quality of the relevant criminal – legal prohibitions and their qualified and active application should be recognized as more significant in terms of functional purpose and impact on legal relations. Thus, of course, the process of combating crimes against intellectual property directly depends on the degree of effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, both international law and legislation of Ukraine, as well as methods and techniques of intellectual property protection, which also contributes to the modern development of civil law, criminal law and procedural institutions of regulation and protection of intellectual property rights in view of the dynamics of such crimes, their type of affiliation, as well as persons who may be involved in their commission. At the same time, there is no doubt that even perfect criminal law prohibitions cannot completely replace the professionalism of a law enforcer, his technical equipment, his knowledge of regulatory legislation and high-quality investigative and operational-investigative activities.