Intellectual Property
The local institution responsible for registering industrial property rights is the Intellectual Property Office. Foreign companies enjoy equal rights as domestic ones with regard to registration and protection of their trade marks, industrial design, patents, and other industrial property forms.
Trade Marks
The procedure for the protection of a trademark is initiated by filing an application with the Intellectual Property Office. Upon receiving the application, the Office carries out its formal examination. If the application contains all formal elements, it is registered with the Application Registry and forwarded to the Trade Marks Department for substantive examination. Although it takes 12 to 18 months for the Office to complete the procedure, the applicant is entitled to use his trade mark from the day of filing the application.
The duration of a trade mark registration is 10 years from the date of filing a correct application. It may be renewed for a period of 10 years upon payment of the appropriate fee.
Patents
There are two types of patents: a patent and a petty patent. The subject of an invention, which is protected by a patent, may be a product (device, substance, composition, microorganism, plant or animal cell culture) or a process. The subject of an invention, which is protected by a petty patent, may only be a product (device).
The procedure for the protection of inventions is initiated by filing an applicationwith the Intellectual Property Office. Upon receiving the application, the Office carries out its formal examination. If the application is assessed as formally correct, it is published in the Gazette of Intellectual Property. The decision on granting a patent is based on its substantive examination.
The maximum term of a patent is 20 years and of a petty patent-10 years starting from the date of filing a correct application.
Industrial Design
Industrial design in Serbia can be registered as a model or a sample. A model is the right, which protects a new external form of a product or part thereof and represents a 3-dimensional creation. A sample is the right, which protects a new image or a drawing that can be applied to a product or part thereof and represents a 2-dimensional creation.
The procedure for registering a model or a sample consists of: filing an application with the Intellectual Property Office, a formal examination of an application, registering the formally correct application with the Registry of Applications, the examination of a novelty conducted by the Models and Samples Department, and the decision on registering a model or a sample.
The duration of a model or a sample registration is 5 years, with protection starting from the date of filing a correct application. It may be renewed for a period of 10 years upon payment of the appropriate fee.
