Patents

Patent enables to its right holder the exclusive right of using the protected invention on the territory of the country that granted it. That means that the patent granted by the Intellectual Property Office produces effect only on the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

The patent holder has the right to prevent others to use the protected invention for the commercial purposes, such as production, offering for sale, marketing, import, storage and other activities.

Patent can be transferred to another person by the contract on the transfer of rights or it can be assigned for use by the license agreement. The license can be exclusive or non-exclusive. The patent can be subject of securing a claim by concluding the agreement on the pledge. Pledge is constituted by the entry into the Patent Register held by the Intellectual Property Office.

Patent gives to its holder the social affirmation for creative work. By commercial use of the protected invention, the holder of patent gets possibility to realize the commercial profit. Patents are the sources of important technical information and the inspiration to future generations of researchers and inventors.
After the examination procedure, patent is granted for the invention, which:

• is novel – identical solution has not been available to the public before the filing date of the application for the protection of an invention;
• has an inventive level – the invention is not obvious in comparison to the known solutions in the suitable state of the art;
• is industrially applicable – invention can be produced or utilized in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

Information whether certain invention has already been protected, but also insight into the published inventions in certain field of technology, is acquired by searching patent documents (registered patents and published patent applications).

Based on the filed request and paid fee for the search of the state of the art, the Office issues a search report of the state of the art. The experts from the Office give information in search report after the complex and comprehensive search in the domestic and foreign databases of patent documentation. The search services in the patent field can be seen here.

In addition, in the premises of the public reading room of the Office, the interested person can independently, or with the assistance of the employees of the Office, perform search of publically available patent databases. The services of the public reading room imply making available to the interested person documents about the protected rights of industrial property, as well as giving consultations with regard to questions concerning all the issues related to intellectual property within the competences of the Office. More information about the databases for free/independent search of patent documentation can be seen here.

Patent application can be filed by an inventor/s as a natural person/s or by the legal entity to whom the inventor/s transferred the right to file an application. In cases where applicant is not an inventor, it is necessary that the applicant, when submitting the application, submit the Statement related to the basis of acquiring the right to file an application.

Patent application is filed electronically through the portal e-application or in writing in three copies in the Serbian language, directly in the Office or by post. The applicant will receive a confirmation that the application has been received, indicating the application number and the date of receipt of the application.

The application can be filed in a foreign language, with the obligation that the applicant shall furnish its translation in the Serbian language in the course of two months.

Do not publish information about the invention before the filing patent application (for example: articles in the scientific and other journals, presentations at the conferences, presentations at the fairs, information at the Internet and other);

Do not sell the product containing your invention before filing the application;

Do not give lectures and presentations about invention before filing the patent application, except when the Contract on the confidentiality of information is concluded beforehand.

The citizens of the Republic of Serbia or persons having residence or seat in the Republic of Serbia can file an application without the representative. Foreign natural and legal persons must have a representative in the procedure before the Office.

For the purpose of the better composition of the application and conducting the procedure before the Office, you can contact the registered representative for industrial property from the List of Representatives.

In the course of the procedure for patent grant (starting from the 3rd year) and after the patent is registered, it is necessary to pay the annual fees for the maintenance of patent to keep it valid.

The right holder should take care of his right by monitoring the competition and monitoring the market in order to find out in time whether someone is possibly violating his right and to take appropriate legal measures accordingly.

Maintaining a validity of patent is justified only if the patent holder derives economic benefit from the patent, for example by selling a protected invention, which the patent holder has produced himself or has produced for him by someone else on the basis of a cooperation agreement. Also, the patent holder can make a profit by selling or licensing patent rights.

The Intellectual Property Office is not competent to establish a patent infringement. In the Republic of Serbia, the competent authorities for the enforcement of patent right can be divided into administrative bodies, and courts and public prosecutor’s office. You can see more about the enforcement of intellectual property rights here.

Keep reading

• Petty patent
• Supplementary Protection Certificate
• International protection