We are pleased to announce that Vladimir Djerić, attorney at law from MJB, has been appointed an arbitrator of the Permanent Elected Court (Arbitration) of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia by a decision of the Governing Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia dated 21 December 2011.
At the invitation of Agrokor Group, Dejan Bogdanovic, a senior partner in the Law Office of Mikijelj Jankovic & Bogdanovic, held a presentation on Strategy and Management of Intellectual Property Rights in Belgrade on 18 November 2011. The presentation addresses the issue of how a modern company can successfully manage its IP portfolio.
The new Serbian Law on Commercial Societies (Zakon o privrednim društvima) will start to apply as of 1 February 2012 (entered into force on 4 June 2011). The law requires existing commercial societies to introduce, as the case may be, certain changes in their structure and amend their founding documents. For example, limited liability companies should harmonize the outlook of their management bodies/officials with the new law. Similarly, joint stock companies should harmonize their articles of incorporation and by-laws with the new law and adopt by-laws where none exist. This should be done by 1 February 2012, while the changes should be registered in the commercial register by 1 May 2012.
The new Law no. 04/L-029 on Patents was adopted on July 29, 2011, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo on August 29, 2011, and is in force from September 13, 2011. Among other things, the new Law prescribes the following:
• decisions of the IP Office can be appealed before a commission within a 15 day deadline, and a court petition can be filed against the decision of the commission within a 30 day deadline,
• it is permitted to disclose the invention without consequences at an internationally recognized exhibition (6 months before filing),
• a patent which was subject to transfer of rights and licencing (exclusive or partial) can now be subject to lien, levy of execution and bankruptcy proceedings,
• patent applications should be translated into the official languages,
• restoration of priority right, as well as amendment and supplementation of the priority right request is permitted,
• it is possible to prolong the deadline for submission of the Document of Evidence (DOE) – to a maximum of 90 days from completed substantive examination by the competent authority,
• Compulsory license has been introduced for patents for pharmaceutical products intended for export to countries having problems with public health, and
• the IP Office will issue Supplementary Protection Certificates for pharmaceutical products and plant products.
NB: Provisions regarding compulsory licences and supplementary certificates will be in use after Kosovo joins the EU.
New Law no. 04/L-028 vas adopted on July 29, 2011, published on August 22, 2011, and is in force since September 6, 2011.
According to the new Law, a designer can only be a physical person, not a legal entity as provided for by the previous Law.
A Registration Certificate will be issued only at the request of the design owner.
A chapter regarding Community design has been introduced with effect from the date of entry of Kosovo into the European Union.
Regarding civil protection of industrial designs, deadlines for filing court petitions have been omitted in the new Law.
The new Law no. 04/L-026 on Trademarks was adopted on July 29, 2011, published on August 24, 2011, and is in force since September 8, 2011.
By its structure the new Law is significantly different from the previous Law no. 02/L-54.
Opposition procedure has been introduced, as well as the possibility to file an appeal against the decision of the IP Office of Kosovo. The deadline to file an opposition is 3 months from the publication of the application. The deadline to file an appeal against the decision of the IP Office is 15 days from the date of receipt of the contested decision.
Trademark applications are examined on absolute grounds only.
A new chapter on civil protection is introduced.
By all other elements, and by its structure, the new Law is harmonized with other legal texts in the region.
