IP News

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.

On July 12, the Copyright and Related Rights Office, operating under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in Pristina, Kosovo, gave licenses to the first two copyright collectives established in Kosovo.

The two collectives are the Association of Authors, Producers and Interpreters (APIK), responsible for the collective management of musical works, and the Audio Visual Association of Performers and Interpreters (VAPIK), responsible for the collective management of audiovisual works.

Memli Krasniqi, minister of culture, youth and sports, under whom the copyright office operates, handed the licenses to the representatives of the two associations, Florent Boshnjaku from APIK and Blerim Gjoci from VAPIK.

The new Law on Copyright and Related Rights entered into force in Kosovo in December 2011, and now the copyright office has taken an important step to ensure proper implementation of this law.

Prepared by: Nahide Saliaga-Maliqi

For more information, please contact mail@sdpkosove.com.

Source: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports

On January 17, the Kosovo IPO issued its seventh Official Bulletin, the first one to include national trademark applications published for opposition, under the provisions of the new trademark law of September 2011. This Bulletin also includes the Serbian trademarks re-filed in Kosovo.

The previous six Bulletins included the Serbian trademark re-registrations only. Apart from the Serbian re-registrations, during the one-year revalidation period that started on November 19, 2007, when the Kosovo IPO opened, it was also possible to re-file the pending Serbian trademarks. These trademarks will be treated in the same manner as the national trademark applications, while the Serbian priority will be kept. Thus, these trademarks will also be subject to opposition.

An opposition notice may be filed with the Kosovo IPO within a period of three months as of the publication date.

For more information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu.

Source: Kosovo IPO

One of the most important novelties introduced by Kosovo’s new Law on Trademarks, in force as of September 8, 2011, is the possibility to request the accelerated examination of a trademark application. The Administrative Instruction, which was approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on January 12, 2012 and entered into force on the same date, spells the procedure and the grounds for requesting the accelerated examination, as well as the official fees.

The accelerated examination is only available if there has been an alleged infringement of trademark rights. When requesting such examination, the applicant must indicate the trademark filing details and submit:

• Copy of the trademark application as filed;

• Documents evidencing that a civil or a customs action was duly initiated;

• Documents evidencing trademark rights and the alleged infringement of such rights;

• Proof of payment of the official EUR 50 (USD 63) fee per trademark, regardless of the number of classes.

The accelerated examination request may be submitted at any time after the filing date, as no time frame is specified. The IPO will decide to grant or reject the accelerated examination request within 15 days from the filing date. The examination is to be performed under the provisions of the Law on Trademarks.

For more information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu.

Source: Kosovo IPO

The new Law on Copyright and Related Rights entered into force in Kosovo on December 15, 2011. The first Law on Copyright and Related Rights, adopted in 2006, had never been implemented in practice.

The new law does not introduce any changes in the substantive copyright law. It rather clarifies the role and activities of the Office on the Copyright and Related Rights, operating under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. According to the new copyright law, the Office’s main activities are to:

• License copyright collective societies;

• Revoke licenses issued to copyright collective societies;

• Supervise the activities of copyright collective societies;

• Provide the needed information to authors and other copyright owners with respect to the rights covered by the law;

• Keep abreast of international legal developments and provide recommendations with regard to copyright and related rights.

The new law excludes the possibility for copyright holders to deposit the copies of the works and the subject matter of the related rights works with the Office. This was possible under the former law and was done in order to preserve evidence or for any other reason.

For more information, please contact Kujtesa Nezaj-Shehu.

Source: Kosovo IPO