National IP and legal Information in the CARDS region

ALBANIA – GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS

Legislation

The basic legislation regulating the Intellectual Property protection are:

• Law on Industrial Property, No. 7819 April 27 1994 , as amended by Law No. 8477 April 22, 1999 .
• Law on “Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits”, No. 8488 May 13, 1999.
• Law No. 7564 , 19 May 1992 “on Copyright” as amended by Law No. 7923 19 April 1995 , by Law 8594 April 6, 200 , by Law No. 8630 July 3, 2000 .

Other country specific Legislation connected to enforcement of IP:

• Penal Code, Civil Code, Penal Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code
• Law “On Competition” No. 8044, December 07, 1995
• Customs Code Law No. 8449, January 27, 1999 .

Membership Of International Bodies & Treaties:

• Madrid Agreement (International Registration on Marks), since October 1995.
• Paris Convention on Industrial Property, since October 1995
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT, Patents) since October 1995.
• Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
• Berne Convention (literary and Artistic Works), since March 1994.
• Rome Convention (performers, producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations), since September 2000.
• WPPT (WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty) since May 2001.
• Geneva Convention (Protection of phonograms producers against un-authorized reproduction) since March 2000.
• Extension of European Patents Agreement since February 1996.

The IP legislation is fully in compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and also with EU Directives on Intellectual property matters. Improvements are expected shortly to Enforcement of IP legislation.

More on www.alpto.gov.al

Bosnia and Herzegovina INSTITITE FOR STANDARDS, METEROLOGY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Legislation

The Intellectual Property System of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been set up in 1992 with the acceptance legislation regarding Industrial Property Protection, Copyright and Related Rights and implementing procedure from former Yugoslavia as well as the conventions and treaties which had been ratified also by former Yugoslavia.

In 1993 Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has accepted the Law on Patents and Distinctive Signs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Legislation ragarding the Copyright and Related Rights, accepted from former Yugoslavia, has been applied until 2002.During the 2002 Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted following Laws:

• Industrial Property Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina (which entered into force 27 February, 2002 and applied since 27 August, 2002) (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 3/02)
• Law on the Amendment of the Industrial Property Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 29/02)
• Law on Copyright and Related Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina (which entered into force as from 14 April, 2002) (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 7/02)

And is implementing regulations under these Laws, as follows:

• Regulation on Trademark (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 22/02)
• Regulation on Patent protection (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 22/02)
• Regulation on Industrial Design (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 22/02)
• Regulation on Geographical Indication (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 22/02)
• Law on administrative fees (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 5/95)
• Decision on special procedural charges (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 29/02)
• Regulation of competence criteria for performing the collective Copyright and related Rights administration (“Official Gazette BIH”, No. 10/02)

BIH has continued membership at the International Conventions and Treaties in the Intellectual Property field, from 1 March, 1992 , according to the below mentioned Conventions/Treaties ratified by former Yugoslavia, as follows:

• This year Bosnia and Herzegovina will became a member of the European Patent Convention through the Cooperation and Extension Agreement with European Patent Office.

More on: www.basmp. gov.org

CROATIA – STATE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

LEGISLATION OVERVIEW

Intellectual property legislation has been a part of the Croatian legal system from the beginning of its history as an independent state. In 1991 the Republic of Croatia adopted into its legal system all laws of former Yugoslavia regulating intellectual property rights and their enforcement. The Republic of Croatia had applied those laws until the enactment of its new laws in the field of intellectual property.

By means of the Notification on Succession, the Republic of Croatia became a member to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), as well as a party to conventions and treaties that are administered by WIPO, to which the former Yugoslavia was a party. In the meantime the Republic of Croatia became a party to a number of conventions and treaties administered by WIPO. In 2000 the Republic of Croatia became a party to WTO.

During 2003 the IP legislation in the Republic of Croatia went through the process of harmonization with the Acquis Communautaire. The Croatian Parliament adopted 6 new laws in the field of intellectual property:

• The Copyright and Related Rights Act
• Patent Law
• Law on Trademarks
• Law on Industrial Designs
• Law on Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin of Products and Services
• Law on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor Products

The Copyright and Related Rights Act entered into force on October 30, 2003 (Official Gazette, 167/2003). Other laws entered into force on November 8, 2003 and have been applied as from January 1, 2004 (Official Gazette, 173/03).
Besides the harmonization with the Acquis, all laws are harmonised with the TRIPS Agreement.

In addition to the said laws, regulations implementing all laws in the field of intellectual property were adopted and published in Official Gazette 72/2004, on June 1, 2004, and have been in force as from the day of their publication therein.

The Croatian Parliament adopted the Law Amending the Law on Administrative Fees in the Field of Intellectual Property Rights (Official Gazette 160/2004), which has been in force as from November 26, 2004. The former Law on Administrative fees had to be amended due to the fact that new institutes were introduced through the 6 new laws in the field of IPR, harmonized with the Acquis. In addition to this, State Intellectual Property Office amended the Regulations on Special Charges and Charges for Information Services Provided by the SIPO, to be compatible with the changes brought by the new laws (Official Gazette 187/2004).

Aside from the above mentioned, in 2003 the Croatian Parliament enacted laws ratifying the following international treaties and agreements:

• Law Ratifying Cooperation and Extension Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Patent Organization (EPO Extension Agreement) (Official Gazette, Treaties 14/2003)
• Law Ratifying Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol, 1989) (Official Gazette, Treaties 13/2003);
• Law Ratifying Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, of November 6, 1925, as revised in the Hague on November 28, 1960 (the Hague Act, 1960), and as complemented in Stockholm, on July 14, 1967, and as amended on September 28, 1979 (Stockholm Complementary Act, 1967), and the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, as adopted in Geneva on July 2, 1999 (the Geneva Act, 1999) (Official Gazette, Treaties 14/2003).
  
  
• EPO Extension Agreement entered into force on April 1, 2004 (Official Gazette, Treaties 2/2004);
• Madrid Protocol entered into force on January 23, 2004 (Official Gazette, Treaties 18/2003);
• Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs entered into force on February 12, 2004 (Official Gazette, Treaties 1/2004), and Geneva Act entered into force on April 12, 2004 (Official Gazette, Treaties 1/2004).

In 2004, Croatian Parliament enacted one law and three regulations ratifying the following treaties and international agreements:

• Law Ratifying Patent Law Treaty (Official Gazette, Treaties 10/2004);
• Regulation Ratifying Trademark Law Treaty (Official Gazette, Treaties 9/2004);
• Regulation Ratifying Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Official Gazette, Treaties 9/2004);
• Regulation Ratifying Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol (Official Gazette, Treaties 7/2004).

Patent Law Treaty entered into force for the Republic of Croatia on April 28, 2005 (Official Gazette, Treaties 3/2005).
Nairobi Treaty entered into force for the Republic of Croatia on November 20, 2004 (Official Gazette, Treaties 11/2004).
Trademark Law Treaty and Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks is not yet in force for the Republic of Croatia. The exact day of their application shall be published in the Official Gazette according to the provisions of the Law on Conclusion and Implementation of Treaties.

In April 2005, Croatian Parliament adopted the Law Governing Representation in the Field of Industrial Property Rights. The Law entered into force on May 5, 2005 (Official Gazette, 54/2005), and will be applied as from August 1, 2005.

MACEDONIA -STATE OFFICE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY (SOIP)

National legislation

The first Law on Industrial Property in the Republic of Macedonia was enacted in 1993 (RM Official Gazette No.42/93).
The need for harmonization of the legislation with the TRIPS Agreement and the EU acquis resulted with enacting of the new Law on Industrial Property, which was passed by the Parliament on June 2002, and applied as from January 1, 2004. The latest changes of the Law on Industrial Property were brought in February 2004.

The other Industrial Property laws and regulations are:

• Law on Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits (1998)
• Law on Administrative Fees -part 9 (2004)
• Tariff of the State Office of Industrial Property (2004)
• Regulations for Patents (2004)
• Regulations for Industrial Design (2004)
• Regulations for Trademarks (2004)
• Regulations for Appellations of Origin of products and Geographical indications (2004)
• Regulations for representative's exam before the Office and for the register for the representatives (2004)
• Regulations for the form and the content of the application for the registration of Topographies of Integrated Circuits (1998)

The IP legislation is in compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and EU Directives.

International Treaties and Conventions

• Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
• Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
• Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
• Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
• Agreement on co-operation in the field of Patents between European Patent Organization (EPO) and Government of the Republic of Macedonia (1997)
• Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
• Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification
• Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs
• Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs
• Law of the Ratification on European Convention Relating to the Formalities required for Patent Applications (1997)
• Law of the Ratification of the Convention on Unification of certain of substantive Law on Patents for Invention (1997)
• TRIPS Agreement

COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

National Legislation

The basic act, which regulates the Copyright and Related Rights, is the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (No. 47/96 of September 1996 as amended by Law on Alterations and Additions to the Law on Copyright and Related Right, adopted on January 1998, No. 3/98; 24 December 2002, No.98/02; 17 January 2005, No.4/05).

The Copyright and Related Rights legislation is in compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and the EU Directives.

International Treaties and Conventions

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886
• Universal Copyright Convention, 1952
• Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, 1961
• Convention Establishing WIPO, 1967
• Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms, 1971 (Geneva Convention)
• Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, 1974
• Agreement Establishing the WTO, 1994
• WIPO Copyright Treaty 1996
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 1996

More on www.ippo.gov.mk

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

LEGISLATION

In the course of 2004, the following new laws have been adopted:

1. The Patent Law
2. The Law on Copyright and Related Rights
3. The Trademark Law
4. The Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs
5. The Law on the Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits
6. The Law on the Ratification of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Patents between FRY and EPO (Cooperation and Extension Agreement)
7. The Rules of Procedure for the Grant of Patent
8. The Tariffs for Special Procedure and Information Services Expenses of the Office

All these laws relating to the intellectual property protection have been adopted by The Federal Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro and they represent the continuation of the process of harmonization with the most important international legislation, first of all TRIPS Agreement and the directives of the European Union, as well as the new international conventions in the specific field of intellectual property protection.

The Patent Law

One of the most important acts which has been passed is the new Patent Law, which was ratified by The Federal Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro on the session on July 2, 2004. It is extremely important to note that this Law represents the legal foundation for the enforcement of The Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Patents between FRY and EPO (Cooperation and Extension Agreement). The Federal Government of the FRY and The European Patent Office concluded the discussion on November 25, 2001, and then the Federal Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro ratified it on June 15, 2004.

The Law on the Copyright and Related Rights of Serbia and Montenegro

This radically new Law, adopted on December 22, 2004, and enforced from January 1, 2005, contains many novelties resulting from the harmonization of internal copyright with the TRIPS Agreement, then WIPO Conventions and Treaties, ratified in 2002, the Bern Convention, Rome Convention, Geneva Convention, WCT and WPPT, and Directives of the European Union, concerning the legal protection of computer programs. It also regulates rental and lending rights, defines the term of protection, and relates to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission, data bases and information society as well as resale right.

The Trademark Law

The reasons that drove to the redaction of this new Trademark Law can be seen as the result of assuring IP institutes of valid practical legislation, (the previous Law being passed in 1995), as well as the necessity that the specific stipulations would be harmonized with the WIPO Trademark Law Treaty, TRIPS Agreement, European Union Council Directive, from 1993, EU Directive on Trademarks, from 1988, and The Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks, from 1999.

The Law on the Protection of Industrial Designs

The Law is the result of an accurate check of all solutions provided in the previous Law on Models and Patterns, as well as the necessity to harmonize the legal provisions in this field with the regulations deriving from the TRIPS Agreement, the EU Directive on the Legal Protection of Designs and the WIPO Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs..

The Law on the Geographical Indications is in the phase of the preparation of the bill.

More on www.yupat.sv.gov.yu