Interesting intellectual property issues

What is a patent?

A patent is a right that protects an invention. In order for an invention to be protect...

A patent is a right that protects an invention. In order for an invention to be protected by a patent, it is necessary to be novel, to have an inventive step and to be industrially applicable.

The patent protects inventions from all fields of technology – mechanical engineering, pharmacy, biotechnology, electrical engineering, construction, chemistry, etc.

A patent protects a product, process, or application. The patent gives its holder the exclusive right to use the protected invention. Without the permission of the patent holder, no one may economically exploit his protected invention.

A patent is a territorial right, which means that it is valid only on the territory of those countries in which protection has been achieved.

Patent protection, if it is granted, lasts for 20 years from the day of filing the patent application.

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What is a petty patent?

A petty patent is a right that also protects an invention, but unlike a patent, the Off...

A petty patent is a right that also protects an invention, but unlike a patent, the Office does not examine whether the invention is novel, whether it has an inventive step and whether it is industrially applicable. The Office only examines whether the application for a petty patent is in order and whether it has all the elements prescribed by law. Only on that basis, it recognizes the protection of a petty patent.

A petty patent protects inventions relating to the construction or arrangement of components of a device. A petty patent can not protect inventions relating to the process or application of the process.

A petty patent is an unexamined right. The holder of a petty patent may prevent others from using the protected invention only if he has a certificate of examination. Right holder may submit a request to the Office, at any time of validity of petty patent, to conducts a search and substantial examination of the granted petty patent. This means that, in order for the right obtained by a petty patent to be enforced in court, it is necessary to have proof that it is really a technical solution that has novelty, inventive step and is industrially applicable.

On the other hand, the patent holder does not have to do that because those facts were established in the patent protection procedure. For this reason, the patent protection process takes longer and is more expensive than the petty patent protection process, but therefore offers much stronger protection.

A petty patent is a territorial right, which means that it is valid only in the territory of those countries in which protection has been granted.

The protection of a petty patent lasts for 10 years from the day of filing the petty patent application.

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What is supplementary Protection Certificate?

In the case of patents for medicines and plant protection products, the duration of pro...

In the case of patents for medicines and plant protection products, the duration of protection may be extended up to five years. This extension of the term of patent protection is the Supplementary protection certificate. The purpose of this extension is to allow proportionate compensation to the patent holder for the time that elapses between the date of filing the patent application and the date when the first marketing license was granted in the Republic of Serbia.

The supplementary protection certificate refers to an active substance (a substance that is an integral part of a medicine) or a combination of active substances that are protected by a patent in the Republic of Serbia.

It is necessary that it is an active substance whose marketing in the Republic of Serbia is approved by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices for medicines, or by the Plant Protection Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia for plant protection products.

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What is a trademark?

A trademark is a legally protected sign by which a natural and legal person marks their...

A trademark is a legally protected sign by which a natural and legal person marks their goods and services in trade, so that consumers can distinguish them from identical or similar goods and services offered on the market by another natural or legal person.

The trademark can be individual, collective or a warranty trademark.

An individual trademark is a legally protected sign used by a natural or legal person in trade.

A collective mark is a legally protected sign used in trade by members of the association in whose name the collective trademark is registered.

A warranty trademark is a legally protected sign used by various economic entities, under the supervision of the trademark holder. The warranty trademark serves as a guarantee of the quality of goods and services in circulation.

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What is industrial design?

Industrial design is a right that protects the appearance of a product (or part of it)....

Industrial design is a right that protects the appearance of a product (or part of it). An industrial design can be three-dimensional (shoe shape, car body, toy appearance, etc.) or two-dimensional (a pattern on a garment, a canvas design, etc.). The appearance of the product must meet the requirements of novelty and individual character, which are prescribed by law in order for the industrial design to be approved.

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What are geographical indications of orgin?

Geographical Indications of Origin are a common name for two types of designations: the...

Geographical Indications of Origin are a common name for two types of designations: the appellation of origin and the geographical indication.

The appellation of origin is the geographical name of a country, region or locality that serves to denote a product originating there, whose quality and special properties are exclusively or essentially conditioned by the geographical environment, which includes natural and human factors and whose production, processing and preparation takes place as a whole at a specific restricted area. For example, for the “Leskovac homemade ajvar”, the product is ajvar, and the appellation of origin is “Leskovac homemade ajvar”.

A geographical indication is a designation that indicates that a certain good originates from a certain geographical area (from a certain country, region or locality), where a certain quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods can essentially be attributed to that particular geographical origin. For example, the geographical indication protected on the territory of the Republic of Serbia is “Water Vrnjci”, and it refers to goods: mineral water, whose source is in Vrnjacka banja.

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What is a copyright?

Copyright is the right of an author to a work he has created. Examples of copyright wor...

Copyright is the right of an author to a work he has created. Examples of copyright works are literary works, musical works, works of art, film works, dramatic works, computer programs and so on. Unlike patents, trademarks, industrial designs and other industrial property rights, copyright arises from the act of creating a work of authorship. It is not necessary to conduct proceedings before the Office or a court or any other state body in order to be recognized the right to the copyright work that you have created.

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What are related rights?

Related rights protect a person’s investment in creating copies of copyrighted wo...

Related rights protect a person’s investment in creating copies of copyrighted works. The author writes a poem. That song must be recorded in order to be broadcasted on the radio and thus reach the audience. The person who invests money or other funds in the recording of a song in a music studio is the producer of the phonogram (also called the music producer) and his right to record the song is called the right of the producer of the phonogram. It is an example of related right. By the same logic, protected as related rights are investments in filmmaking, shows (shows produced by radio and TV broadcasters, for example), databases, etc.

A special type of related right is the right of the performer. Actors, singers, reciters, ballet dancers, etc., all have rights to their interpretations.

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What is collective copyright management?

Copyright and related rights are collectively exercised through collective rights manag...

Copyright and related rights are collectively exercised through collective rights management organizations. The authors and holders of copyright and related rights establish collective management organizations. Certain property rights are assigned to the organizations in an exclusive manner, in order to conclude contracts with users of copyrighted works or objects of related rights and to charge fees for the use of rights on behalf of the authors or right holders.

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What is a license?

The license agreement is regulated by the Law on Obligations. It is a contract by which...

The license agreement is regulated by the Law on Obligations. It is a contract by which the licensor undertakes to assign to the licensee, in whole or in part, the right to use the intellectual property right, or technical knowledge and experience, and the licensee undertakes to pay him a certain fee for that. The license agreement must be concluded in writing.

At the request of the licensor or licensee, the license agreement is entered in the appropriate register kept by the Office, and the agreement that is not entered in the register does not produce legal effect towards third parties.

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What is a trade secret?

Trade secrets can protect various types of information, such as production procedures, ...

Trade secrets can protect various types of information, such as production procedures, business and financial plans, advertising strategies, market survey results, lists of suppliers and customers, architectural projects and the like. All the above information provides economic entities with an advantage over the competition and therefore it is very important for them that the law guarantee them protection from acts of unfair competition – unauthorized disclosure, acquisition and use of business secrets. Any information is considered a trade secret: which has or may have commercial value because it is not generally known or available to third parties; which is protected by its holder by appropriate measures to preserve its secrecy and whose communication to a third party could harm its holder.

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What is intellectual property diagnostics?

The intellectual property diagnostics service gives the user (business entity or team f...

The intellectual property diagnostics service gives the user (business entity or team from the scientific institution) an insight into what can be protected as intellectual property from the results of its work. If, for example, a business entity uses a certain sign in trade in order to mark his products or services, he may protect it as a trademark. If he has designed a specific appearance for his product, he can protect it as an industrial design. If he has devised a new technical solution to a problem he encounters in his work, he can protect it as a patent or a petty patent, etc.

Once the business entity protects its right, a strategy could be devised on how to use it properly in his business. The diagnostic service helps the business entity to recognize “intangible” forms of its property, which intellectual property rights are and which also represent the value of a company. Often, intangible assets exceed the material assets of a company in their value.

Intellectual property diagnostics provides recommendations for the protection of certain intellectual property rights based on an assessment of the current situation in the company.

In short, the diagnosis of intellectual property provides recommendations for the protection of certain intellectual property rights based on an assessment of the current situation in the company and provides clients with the opportunity to see future business through an understanding of the benefits they have gained by protecting their intellectual property.

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What is mediation?

Mediation is a procedure in which the parties try to resolve a disputed relationship th...

Mediation is a procedure in which the parties try to resolve a disputed relationship through negotiations with the help of a neutral mediator, who helps the parties to reach an agreement.

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What is E-Application?

E-Application is an application for electronic submission of applications and other sub...

E-Application is an application for electronic submission of applications and other submissions in the proceedings conducted by the Intellectual Property Office. By submitting the application electronically, you apply for the protection of a certain right on the territory of the Republic of Serbia in exactly the same way as if you had submitted the application in paper form. Electronic submission also allows you to reduce the amount of the fee that you can calculate using the online fee calculator (link to the Tax Calculator).

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