soUtH EAstERn EURoPE
soUtH EAstERn
In RECEnt YEARs, tHERE HAs BEEn An AttEMPt to
sIGnIfICAntLY HARMonIsE ALBAnIA's IP REGULAtoRY
fRAMEWoRK WItH tHAt of tHE EURoPEAn UnIon
Additionally, Croatia acceded to the European Patent Convention (EPC) Th e new Law on Trademarks is worth special focus. Th e current law is
and the Act revising the EPC on October 31, 2007. harmonised with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, as well as with the
Law on Ministries. And with the application of the Stabilisation-Association
national strategy Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the European Union, there is
Th e national strategy was draft ed in 2004 and covers the fi ve years from
a requirement for full harmonisation with EU trademark protection.
2005 to 2010. It includes a set of recommendations and policies provided by
Th e law introduces the right to appeal within an administrative procedure
the relevant European and international bodies.
and provides for the effi cient administrative control of decisions rendered
Th e strategy sets out how to adapt the national intellectual property system,
by the Intellectual Property Offi ce.
protect intellectual property rights and improve the use of intellectual
property as a resource in the economic, scientifi c, cultural and overall social Court practice
development of Croatia.
In the Republic of Serbia, the commercial courts are the competent courts
for all intellectual property-related cases where the parties in dispute are
Court practice
legal entities. In cases where individuals are involved, the competence
In Croatia, the commercial courts handle civil intellectual property is delegated to the higher courts. Most of the disputes are copyright and
proceedings, while criminal cases are led by the municipal courts. As of trademark infringement-related.
June 1, 2008, second instance administrative proceedings can be addressed
directly to the State Intellectual Property Offi ce; the Supreme Court remains
In the past few years, the quantity and consistency of case law has increased,
the fi nal appeal court. In 2007, the Croatian commercial courts dealt with
but it still remains relatively moderate. Between December 18, 2006 and
1,089 IP cases.
October 31, 2007, there were 152 trademark and copyright lawsuits fi led
with the commercial court in Belgrade. Th e process remains relatively slow,
Most intellectual property-related infringements concern copyright and
taking on average a year or more.
trademark infringement, and court proceedings take between one and
three years.
Tamara Bubalo is an associate at Karanovic & Nikolic. She can be contacted
Serbia
at: tamara.bubalo@karanovic-nikolic.com
Legislation
At the end of 2009, Serbia saw signifi cant changes to its regulatory system. On
December 11, Serbia’s parliament adopted a set of new intellectual property
Tamara Bubalo joined Karanovic & nikolic in 2008 where
laws: the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, the Law on Trademarks, the
she advises clients on intellectual property law issues. she
Law on Legal Protection of Industrial Designs and the Law on Topographies
specialised in private and business law at the University of Paris
of Integrated Circuits. Th ese came into force on December 24. Additionally,
10 and in 2007 acquired an intellectual property LLM degree at
the Golden Gate University school of Law, san francisco.
two prior intellectual property laws remain in force: the Law on Patents and
the Law on Indications of Geographical Origin.
144 World Intellectual Property Review Digest 2009 www.worldipreview.com
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