IP News

On January 30, 2013, the Kosovo government approved the decision to establish a task force against counterfeiting and piracy. The establishment of the task force was foreseen by the national strategy for combating counterfeited and pirated products, adopted on October 4, 2012.

The task force will consist of the representatives of the Copyright Office, Trade Inspectorate, IPO, Kosovo Customs, Kosovo Police, and Ministry of Justice.

The mission of the task force will be to:

• Promote effective cooperation between public authorities and social and economic organizations in the field of copyright protection;
• Ensure and coordinate the implementation of the strategy and the action plan against counterfeiting and piracy;
• Develop and implement public awareness programs and campaigns; and
• Prepare and deliver proposals for drafting legislation related to copyright enforcement.

On the same date, the Kosovo government also adopted the regulation on mediation in the field of copyright and related rights outlining mediation procedures between copyright collecting societies and their members.

For further information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu.

Source: The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of Kosovo

For the past two years, the Kosovo judicial system has undergone reorganization. According to the Law on Regular Courts of 1978, which was in force until the end of 2012, the Prishtina District Commercial Court had the jurisdiction to adjudicate industrial property related cases, while copyright-related matters were under the jurisdiction of the District Court of Prishtina.

On January 1, 2013, a new Law on Courts (No. 2010-199) came into force. According to the new law, the Kosovo court system will consist of the basic courts (courts of first instance), the Court of Appeals (second instance court, seated in Prishtina) and the Supreme Court (seated in Prishtina).

Although commercial-related cases fall under the jurisdiction of the basic courts, the Department for Commercial Matters has been established to operate only in the Basic Court of Prishtina and cover the entire territory of the Republic of Kosovo. The department will have the competence to, among others, adjudicate industrial property infringement cases as well as copyright violations. One judge will be assigned to hear these cases.

The Commercial Matters Department will also be established within the Court of Appeals, which will serve as a second instance court with competence throughout the entire territory.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in Kosovo and has territorial jurisdiction over the entire territory of Kosovo.

For further information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu.

On December 14, 2012, SDP KOSOVE organized an INTA roundtable in Kosovo, on the topic of protection and enforcement of well-known marks. This was the first event ever organized in Kosovo on this topic. Given the ambiguous provisions of the well-known marks law in Kosovo and the lack of court practice this event was very welcomed by the attendees.

A total of 32 people from Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania attended the roundtable, including judges, attorneys, students, patent and trademark agents and representatives from the PTO, Copyright Office, the Customs and the Kosovo Police.

The speakers included Ms. Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu, director of SDP KOSOVE, Ms. Suzana Sejdiu, president of the District Commercial Court of Prishtina, and Mr. Ignacio Lazaro, attorney-at-law. The moderators of the roundtable were Ms. Nezaj-Shehu and Ms. Nora Makolli, associate and trademark and patent agent at SDP KOSOVE.

For copies of the presentations, please contact Ms. Kujtesa Nezaj.

On October 4, 2012, the Kosovo government adopted the national strategy for combating counterfeited and pirated products for the 2012-2016 period, drafted by the Copyright and Related Rights Office in cooperation with other local institutions responsible for the enforcement of IP rights.

The strategy aims to create mechanisms for combating counterfeiting and piracy and by doing so help improve Kosovo’s image and economy.

The strategy defines the objectives to be reached during the 2012-2016 period, the most important of which are to:

• Reduce piracy and counterfeiting;
• Improve the productivity of the creative industry;
• Identify the main causes of increase in piracy and counterfeiting;
• Fight against the informal economy and create favorable conditions for foreign investments;
• Enhance international and national inter-institutional cooperation;
• Achieve European standards.

The strategy also foresees the establishment of a task force, whose mission will be to:

• Promote effective cooperation between public authorities and social and economic organizations in the field of copyright protection;
• Ensure and coordinate the implementation of the strategy and the action plan against counterfeiting and piracy;
• Develop and implement public awareness programs and campaigns;
• Prepare and deliver proposals for drafting legislation related to copyright enforcement.

By: Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu

Source: The text of the strategy

Five IP-related administrative instructions have recently entered into force in Kosovo.

The Administrative Instruction (AI) No. 09/2012 on the responsibilities, mandate and scope of work of the IPO’s Appellate Commission entered into force on June 19, 2012.

According to the IP-related laws in force, the appeals against the IPO’s decisions can be filed within 15 days from the receipt of the decision. The laws required that the Ministry of Trade and Industry, under which the IPO operates, establish a commission, which will have the authority to review the appeals. In accordance with the applicable IP laws, the AI defines the responsibilities, mandate and the scope of work of the Appellate Commission.

The Commission is to review and decide on IPO’s decisions as the first instance decision maker. The Commission will consist of three members, two permanent and one ad hoc. The two permanent members will be proposed by the head of the IPO and appointed by the Minister of Trade and Industry, while the ad hoc member will be appointed by the head of the IPO. The members will be appointed for three years. The AI further explains the procedure to be followed by the members of the Commission when deciding on an appeal.

The Administrative Instruction No. 10/2012 on the patent registration procedure entered into force on July 11, 2012.

Following the entry into force of the new Law on Patents in September 2011, the Ministry of Trade and Industry approved the new AI on the patent registration procedure, which provides answers to a number of procedural questions left open by the new law.

The provisions of particular significance in the new AI are highlighted below:

• Patent applications, together with other required documents translated into the official language, should be submitted electronically in a Word document format within two weeks as of the date of filing, or 12 months from the earliest date of priority;
• The line space to be used when submitting patent description and claims should be 1.5;
• Recordal of any amendments to the patent registry should be made by using the IPO’s already prescribed form;
• Provided certain formalities are fulfilled, one single recordal request can be filed with the IPO in case the recordal of amendments concerns a number of patent applications or patents belonging to the same owner.

The AI clarifies, to a certain extent, the issue of international patents filed in Kosovo. In other words, the IPO decided to recognize the priority of PCT applications filed before November 19, 2007 and extended to Serbia (or former Yugoslavia), regardless of the Kosovo date of filing.

There are, however, a few other situations some patent holders can find themselves in and for which solutions are still needed, namely if an:

1. EP or PCT is filed before November 19, 2007 but NOT extended to Serbia and NOT filed in Kosovo within the priority period of 12 months prescribed by the Paris Convention;
2. EP or PCT is filed and extended to Serbia after November 19, 2007 but NOT filed in Kosovo within the priority period of 12 months prescribed by the Paris Convention;
3. EP or PCT is filed after November 19, 2007 but NOT extended to Serbia and NOT filed in Kosovo within the priority period of 12 months prescribed by the Paris Convention.

The Administrative Instruction No. 12/2012 on official fees, entered into force on August 28, 2012.

This AI relates to the official fees to be applied for the registrations of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. In general, there was no increase in the official fees. On the contrary, some official fees have been reduced, and, more importantly, the official fees for a few actions not covered by the previous AI have been clarified.

Finally, the Administrative Instruction No. 11/2012 on the industrial design registration procedure and the Administrative Instruction No. 13/2012 on the trademark registration procedure were approved and entered into force on August 14, 2012. They provide detailed information on the procedures prescribed by the respective laws, in force as of September 2011. These AIs thoroughly describe the procedures of application, registration, opposition, publication, recordal of changes in the register, renewal, termination of validity, availability searches and the like.

For more information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj.