The field of intellectual property is regulated by the Patent Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 99/2011, 113/2017, 95/2018 and 66/2019; hereinafter: the “Patent Law”), the Agreement between the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the European Patent Organization on Cooperation in the field of Patents – Co-operation and Extension Agreement (“Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro – International Agreements”, No. 14/2004), the Law on the Ratification of the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (Strasbourg, 1971, amended in 1979) (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Agreements”, No. 42/2009), the Law on the Ratification of the Patent Law Treaty (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Agreements”, No. 19/2010), and the Law on the Ratification of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention) of October 5, 1973, with amendments to Article 63 of December 17, 1991, and amendments of November 29, 2000 (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Agreements”, No. 5/2010).
A patent is a right granted for an invention in any field of technology, provided it is new, involves an inventive step, and is susceptible of industrial application. A patent may also be granted for an invention of a product consisting of or containing biological material or for the process by which biological material is produced, processed, or used, including: (i) biological material isolated from its natural environment or produced by a technical process, even if it previously occurred in nature; (ii) plants or animals, if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular plant or animal variety; and (iii) microbiological or other technical processes or products obtained through such processes.
Under the Patent Law, biological material means any material containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system. Specifically, the following shall not be regarded as inventions: (i) discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods; (ii) aesthetic creations; (iii) schemes, rules, and methods for performing mental acts, playing games, or doing business; (iv) computer programs; and (v) presentations of information. The subject matter or activities listed herein are excluded from patentability only to the extent that the patent application relates to such subject matter or activities as such.
The human body, at any stage of its formation and development, and the mere discovery of one of its elements, including sequences or partial sequences of genes, shall not be regarded as patentable inventions. However, an element isolated from the human body or produced through a technical process, including sequences or partial sequences of genes, may be patentable even if structurally identical to natural elements. The industrial application of a sequence or partial sequence of a gene must be disclosed in the patent application at the time of filing.
A patent or petty patent shall not be granted for: (i) inventions whose commercial use would be contrary to public order or morality; however, such use shall not be considered contrary to public order or morality solely because it is prohibited by law or regulation, particularly with respect to: (a) processes for cloning human beings; (b) processes for modifying the genetic identity of germ cells of humans; (c) uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes; (d) processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals likely to cause suffering without substantial medical benefit to humans or animals, including animals resulting from such processes; (ii) inventions concerning methods of surgical treatment, diagnostic methods, or therapies practiced directly on human or animal bodies; however, this provision does not apply to products, substances, or compositions used in such methods; and (iii) plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for their production, excluding microbiological processes or products obtained through such processes.
An essentially biological process for producing plants or animals is a process consisting entirely of natural phenomena such as crossing or selection. A microbiological process is any process involving or performed upon microbiological material or resulting in such material. A plant variety is a grouping within a single botanical classification of the lowest known rank, which, irrespective of meeting conditions for plant breeders’ rights, can be: (a) defined by the expression of characteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination of genotypes; (b) distinguished from other plant groupings by expressing at least one such characteristic; and (c) considered as a unit regarding its suitability for propagation unchanged.
An invention is considered to have been made in the course of employment if it constitutes: (i) an invention created by an employee performing tasks defined by an employment contract or by a separate act of the employer governing research and development tasks; or (ii) an invention created during the employment period or within one year from its termination, if created in connection with the employer’s activities or using the employer’s material, technical facilities, information, other working conditions, or resulting from professional training provided by the employer.
The right to protection belongs to the inventor or their legal successor, or, as prescribed by Patent Law, to the employer or its legal successor. Jointly created inventions confer joint rights to protection. Persons providing only technical assistance shall not be considered inventors.
Foreign natural or legal persons without residence or seat in Serbia enjoy the same rights as domestic entities concerning patent protection if provided by international treaties binding the Republic of Serbia.
The patent or petty patent owner shall have exclusive rights to: (i) use the protected invention in production; (ii) place products made by the protected invention on the market; and (iii) dispose of the patent or petty patent.
In exercising these exclusive rights, the owner can prohibit third parties from performing unauthorized acts such as making, offering for sale, marketing, importing, storing, or using products or processes related to the protected invention, or supplying essential elements for unauthorized use.
The right holder or exclusive licensee is entitled to take infringement action against any unauthorized third party.
Transfer of rights related to the patent application, granted patent, or petty patent, whether whole or partial, can result from an assignment-license agreement, a change of status of the applicant/right holder, inheritance, or court/administrative decisions.
A patent or petty patent is obtained upon publication of its grant in the Official Gazette by the competent authority, effective from the application’s filing date.
Key differences between patents and petty patents include: (i) a patent may protect products, processes, or uses thereof, while a petty patent exclusively protects solutions relating to a product’s structure or component layout; (ii) patents last 20 years, petty patents 10 years from the application date; and (iii) petty patent applications are not published, no search report is prepared, and claimed inventions are not examined regarding novelty, inventive step, or industrial applicability.
Protection abroad can be sought by filing a single international application through the Intellectual Property Office of Serbia, covering numerous countries party to the PCT (totaling 144 countries).
The field of Intellectual Property is regulated by the Law on Trademarks (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 6/2020; hereinafter: the “Trademarks Law”), the Regulation on the Content of the Registers of Trademark Applications and Registered Trademarks, on the Content of Requests Submitted in the Procedure of Trademark Registration, and Data Published in the Official Gazette of the Competent Authority (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 43/2010 and 44/2018), the International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Agreement), the International Classification of Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Agreement), the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, the Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol, the Trademark Law Treaty, the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, and the Methodology of the Intellectual Property Office Procedure for Trademark Registration and the Procedure Concerning Registered Trademarks.
A sign protected by a trademark may consist of words, personal names, drawings, letters, numerals, colours, three-dimensional shapes, the shape or packaging of goods, combinations thereof, or sounds.
A trademark can be protected as an individual, collective, or guarantee (certification) trademark. An individual trademark is owned and used by its holder. A collective trademark is owned and used by a legal person representing an association of manufacturers or service providers and may be used by members of such association. A guarantee (certification) trademark distinguishes goods or services certified by its proprietor from similar goods or services of others. It serves as a guarantee of quality, material, manner of production, correctness, or other characteristics, and is used by several persons under the supervision of the trademark proprietor.
Trademark protection shall not be granted for signs that:
(i) are contrary to public order or accepted principles of morality;
(ii) lack distinctiveness for goods/services in commerce;
(iii) consist exclusively of the shape or other characteristics dictated by the nature, function, or substantial value of the goods;
(iv) exclusively designate kind, quality, quantity, purpose, value, geographic origin, production time, or other characteristics of goods/services;
(v) have become customary in everyday language or established trade practices;
(vi) could deceive the public concerning the nature, quality, geographic origin, or other characteristics of the goods/services;
(vii) contain official signs or hallmarks for quality control without authorization;
(viii) fail to comply with Article 6 of the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property without proper authorization;
(ix) include or imitate titles, coats of arms, flags, or state symbols of the Republic of Serbia without authorization;
(x) represent or simulate national or religious symbols;
(xi) contain protected geographical indications within Serbia;
(xii) reproduce previously registered plant variety denominations for similar species.
Exceptions apply for items (ii), (iv), and (v) if the applicant proves that the sign has acquired distinctiveness through genuine use.
Trademark protection shall also be refused for signs that:
(i) are identical to a previously protected trademark for identical goods/services;
(ii) are identical or similar to a previously protected trademark for similar goods/services, if a likelihood of confusion exists;
(iii) are identical or similar to a well-known trademark under the Paris Convention;
(iv) regardless of the goods/services, are identical or similar to a previously protected trademark recognized as having a high reputation (famous trademark) if use could unfairly exploit or harm its distinctive character or repute;
(v) infringe copyright or other industrial property rights.
Signs containing the image or personal name of a person require written consent from that person; if deceased, consent from their parents, spouse, or children is required. Signs containing the image or personal name of historical or famous deceased individuals require permission from the competent authority and written consent from spouses or relatives up to the third degree of kinship.
A trademark shall not be registered if opposed by a previously registered company whose name or essential part thereof is identical or similar, and whose registered activities include identical or similar goods/services used in commerce. Exceptionally, registration may be permitted if the applicant already had a company with an identical or similar name at the application filing date.
Foreign natural and legal persons in Serbia enjoy equal trademark protection rights as domestic persons if provided by international treaties or reciprocity. Reciprocity must be proven by the claimant.
The trademark holder has the exclusive right to use the protected sign for designating goods/services.
The trademark holder may prohibit third parties from unauthorized use of:
(i) an identical sign for identical goods/services;
(ii) an identical or similar sign for identical or similar goods/services if confusion is likely, including association with the protected sign.
The trademark holder may also prohibit unauthorized:
(i) affixing of the protected sign to goods, packaging, or labelling materials (labels, stickers, bottle stoppers, etc.);
(ii) offering goods/services, placing them on the market, or stocking them under the protected sign;
(iii) importing, exporting, reloading, storing, or transiting goods bearing the protected sign, irrespective of their intended market;
(iv) use of the protected sign on business papers and in advertising;
(v) use of the protected sign in comparative advertising contrary to applicable legislation.
Unauthorized use of a registered or applied trademark by an economic operator constitutes infringement.
Infringement actions may be initiated by the trademark holder, applicant, licensee (with proprietor’s consent unless otherwise stipulated), user of a collective trademark (with proprietor’s consent), and user of a guarantee trademark (with proprietor’s consent). Licensees or collective/guarantee trademark users may intervene in infringement proceedings initiated by the trademark proprietor or applicant to seek damages.
Trademark rights or application rights can be assigned fully or partially through an assignment-license agreement, status changes of the holder or applicant, or by court or administrative decisions.
Trademark protection is acquired upon entry into the Trademark Register, is valid for 10 years from the filing date, and may be renewed indefinitely.
Trademark holders or applicants may apply for international registration. Holders of an international trademark may request territorial extension through the competent authority.
This field of Intellectual property is regulated by Law on Legal Protection of Industrial Design (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 104/2009, 45/2015 i 44/2018), Regulations on the content of the register of applications and register of industrial designs, the content of requests filed in the procedure for the grant and protection of rights on industrial designs and data published in the official gazette of the competent body ( “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No 43/10 and 44/2018), The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (of 29 November 1960), The Geneva Act (of 2 July 1999), and The Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs (of 8 October 1968).
An industrial design shall mean the three-dimensional or two-dimensional appearance of the entire product or a part thereof, defined by its features, in particular the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation, as well as their combination. A product shall mean any industrial or handicraft item, including, inter alia, parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs. A complex product shall mean a product which is composed of multiple components which can be replaced, and which permit disassembly and reassembly of the product.
An industrial design shall be protected by the exclusive right (industrial design right) to the extent that it is new and has an individual character. An industrial design shall be considered new (i) if no identical industrial design has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application for registration or, if priority is claimed, (ii) or if there is no application for industrial right protection previously filed and subsequently made available to the public. Industrial designs shall be deemed to be identical if their features differ only in immaterial details. An industrial design shall be considered to have individual character if the overall impression it produces on an informed user differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any other design which has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application for registration or, if priority is claimed. In assessing individual character, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the industrial design of a specific product shall be taken into consideration.
The industrial design applied to or incorporated in a product which constitutes a component part of a complex product shall be considered to be new and to have individual character, only if: (i) the component part incorporated in the complex product remains visible during regular use of such complex product; and (ii) visible features of the component part themselves meet the requirements concerning novelty and individual character.
Industrial design right shall not subsist concerning features of appearance of a product that is solely dictated by its technical function. Industrial design right shall not subsist with respect to features of appearance of a product that must necessarily be reproduced in its exact form and dimensions in order to permit the product to be mechanically connected to or placed in, around or against another product, so that either product may perform its function except in case when design enable multiple assembly or connection of mutually interchangeable products within a modular system. An industrial design cannot be used to protect the external look of the product, the publication of which or the use of which is contrary to the public order or the accepted moral principles.
The right to the industrial design protection has the designer, or their legal successor, or the employer in cases defined by the Law. Foreign natural and legal persons shall have rights concerning industrial design protection equal to national natural and legal persons if it results from international agreements or the reciprocity principle. Proof of the existence of reciprocity shall be provided by the person invoking reciprocity.
The industrial design right shall be acquired by entering into the Industrial Design Register and shall last for a period of 5 years from the filing date to the competent authority. Industrial design protection may be renewed for periods of 5 years each, up to a total term of 25 years from the date of filing of the application.
Assignment of industrial design rights and/or rights arising from the application may be the consequence of an assignment-license agreement, change of status of the holder of the industrial design right and/or the applicant, or based on the court or administrative decision.
The holder of rights concerning industrial design has the exclusive right to use the protected industrial design and to deny that right to every third party. The use of industrial design implies, in particular, the manufacturing, offering, marketing, import, export or use of that product, implying that design is embedded there or applied for that or stored for the mentioned purposes.
Any unauthorized exploitation of a registered industrial design within the meaning of the above stated and unauthorized publication of the subject matter of the application shall constitute an infringement of a right.
Legal suit due to the infringement of right can be applied for by the applicant, holder of a right to industrial design and the acquirer of the exclusive license. The holder of an exclusive license can also file an infringement action for the infringement of right if it has not been prescribed otherwise by a license contract.
The owner/holder of design right that is the applicant for the registration of the design right, can submit a request for international registration of a design through the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia, to obtain protection on the basis of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs in the countries which are party to that Agreement.
This field of Intellectual property is regulated by the Law on Indications of Geographical Origin (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 18/2010 and 44/2018), the Regulation on the content of the application for registration of indications of geographical origin and applications for recognition of the status of the authorized user of indication of geographical origin (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 93/2010 44/2018), Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods.
Indications of geographical origin shall be used to mark natural, agricultural, food and industrial products, traditional handicrafts products and services.
An appellation of origin shall be the geographical name of a region, locality, or country used to designate a product originating therein, the quality and specific characteristics of which are due exclusively or essentially to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors, and such product is produced, processed and prepared entirely within a specific geographical area.
Geographical indications shall be indications which identify particular goods as goods originating from the territory of a specific country, region or locality within such area, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of such goods can be essentially attributed to their geographical origin, and such goods are produced and/or processed and/or prepared within a particular geographical area.
Exceptionally, a product may be protected by the appellation of origin, even where the raw material for the production of such product originates from an area different from or broader than processing area, in case the area of production has special requirements for production of such raw material, as well as an inspection system ensuring supervision of meeting such special requirements. With regard to agricultural and food products, raw materials shall only be live animals, meat and milk.
Protection of the indication of the geographical origin unites two different procedures: procedure for the establishment of the indication of the geographical origin and procedure for the recognition of the status of the authorized user of the indication of the geographical origin.
If the indication of the geographical origin is being established for the first time before the Intellectual Property Office as a completely new right which has not been registered so far, the interested party shall initiate the procedure for the establishment of the indication of geographical origin.
If the indication of the geographical origin has already been established and recorded in the appropriate register, and if somebody wants to acquire the right to use that indication in the channels of commerce, they must initiate the procedure for the recognition of the status of the authorized user of the indication of the geographical origin.
Any unauthorized use of appellation of origin or geographical indication by any economic operator shall be deemed to constitute an infringement of registered appellation of origin or geographical indication.
This field of Intellectual property is regulated by the Law on the legal protection of Topography of Semiconductor Products (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 55/2013 and 66/2019).
The topography shall be protected by an exclusive right if it is the result of its creator’s intellectual effort and is not commonplace in the semiconductor industry.
Topography consisting of the combination of elements, which are well known in the industry of semiconductor products, can be the subject matter of protection only if the combination of these elements observed as a whole fulfills conditions for protection.
The exclusive rights enjoy the part of the protected topography that can be used separately, as well as the device (the main thing) that includes semiconductor product contains protected topography, if such semiconductor product cannot be separated from the main thing without its damage or destruction. The exclusive rights of the topography of semiconductor products shall not apply to any concept, process, system, the technique of production of the topography, or any information embodied in the topography, but to the topography as such.
Right to protection shall apply in favor of a natural person who is the creator of the topographies. Where several persons have jointly created a topography, the right shall jointly apply in favor of all of them. Where topography is created in the course of the creator’s employment, the protection shall apply in favor of the creator’s employer unless otherwise stated in the employment contract.
The holder of exclusive rights (here and after: right holder) shall include the right to prohibit any third party without the authorization of the right holder any of the following acts: (i) reproduce the protected topography as a whole or its essential parts in any manner or in any form; (ii) commercially exploit or import topography, protected for the sake of commercial exploitation, or commercially exploit semiconductor product containing topography protected for the sake of its commercial exploitation.
The exclusive right to topography may be, in whole or in part, subject of an assignment based on an assignment contract, the status change in ownership, as well as inheritance, court and administrative decisions.
This field of Intellectual property is regulated by The Law on Copyright and Related Rights (Official gazette of RS no. 104/2009, 99/2011, 119/2012, 29/2016 i 66/2019), The Law on Optical Discs (“Official Gazette RS”, No. 52/2011), Regulations on the conditions to be fulfilled the copies of copyright protected works and subject matter of related rights which are deposited, entry in the register and deposition of copyright protected works and subject matter of related rights and the contents of the registration of deposited copyright protected works and subject matter of related rights with the competent authority (“Official Gazette RS”, No. 45/2010), Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1971), The WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996), The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996), The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (of 9 September 1886), Universal Copyright Convention (of 6 September 1952), The International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (“the Rome Convention”) – of 26 October 1961.
A work of authorship is an author’s original intellectual creation, expressed in a particular form, regardless of its artistic, scientific or some other value, its purpose, size, contents and way of manifestation, as well as the permissibility of public communication of its contents.
The following shall be deemed works of authorship in particular: (i) Written works (e.g. books, brochures, articles, translations, computer programs with supporting technical and user documentation in any form of their expression, including their preparatory design material and other); (ii) Spoken works (lectures, speeches, orations, etc.); (iii) Dramatic, dramatic-musical, choreographic and pantomime works, as well as works originating from folklore; (iv) Works of music, with or without words; (v) Films (cinema and television); (vii) Fine artworks (paintings, drawings, sketches, graphics, sculptures, etc.); (vii) Works of architecture, applied art and industrial design; (viii) Cartographic works (geographic and topographic maps); (ix) Drawings, sketches, dummies and photographs; (x) The direction of a theatre play; (xi) Database.
An unfinished work of authorship, parts of a work of authorship, as well as the title of a work of authorship, shall be deemed a work of authorship.
Modifications of works of authorship shall also be deemed works of authorship. A work of modification shall be a work in which the characteristic elements of the modified (original) work (musical remixes, arrangements, adaptations and other) are recognizable.
A collection of the works of authorship, which in view of the selection and arrangement of its integral parts, (an encyclopedia, collection of works, anthology, selected works, music collection, photograph collection, graphic map, exhibition and the like), shall also be deemed a work of authorship. A collection of folk literary and artistic creations, as well as a collection of documents, court decisions and similar materials and database, shall also be deemed a work of authorship. The protection of a collection shall in no way restrict the rights of authors of the works constituting an integral part of the collection.
Any author shall enjoy moral and pecuniary rights concerning his/her work of authorship from the moment of its creation.
An author is a natural person who has created a work of authorship (hereinafter: the work). An author is considered a person whose name, pseudonym or mark stated on copies of the work or is referred on the publication of the work, until proven contrary. Exceptionally, the legal or natural person whose title and/or name is in the usual way displayed on the film work shall be considered as the producer of that work, until proven to the contrary. The author of the work shall be the holder of the copyright. Besides the author, the holder of the copyright may also be a person who has acquired the copyright.
The author’s work of the foreign citizens shall be protected the Republic of Serbia under the condition that: (i) the author is a person who whose copyright is recognized on the basis of an international agreement ratified by the Republic of Serbia and that there is (ii) reciprocity between Serbia and the author’s country.
The infringement of the copyright or related rights is (i) the unauthorized performance of any act encompassed by the exclusive rights of the holder of copyright or related rights, (ii) not paying remuneration prescribed by the law or contract, as well as (iii) inobservance of other obligations due to the holder of copyright or related rights.
Any holder of the copyright, performer, producer of a phonogram, producer of a videogram, producer of broadcast, producer of a database, acquirer of exclusive license for copyright and related rights and organization for collective management of copyright and related rights, may file a lawsuit and request particularly the following: (i) determination of the infringement of a right, or serious threats that the right will be violated; (ii) prohibition of the infringement of a right, or serious threats that the right will be violated, as well as a prohibition on repeating of such or similar actions; (iii) confiscation, destruction or alteration of the objects or material instrumental to the infringement on rights, including copies of the subject-matter of protection, their packaging, stencils, negatives and the like; (iv) compensation concerning material and non-material damages; (v) publication of the court decision at the defendant’s expense; (vi) providing information on third parties who participated in the violation of rights.
Pecuniary rights of an author shall last for the life of an author and 70 years after his/her death. Moral rights of an author shall last even after the expiration of his/her pecuniary rights.
