The thematic session of the Parliament of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the Association for Plant Production and Food Industry in the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Kruševac at the topic “The role of intellectual property in the branding of agricultural and food products” has been held.
The event was held on April 4, 2024 in cooperation with the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia and the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Leskovac for the economists and representatives of the institutions from the administrative district of Rasina, with the aim to raise awareness about the importance of intellectual property rights for the improvement of agricultural and food sector.
After the introductory address of Maja Marković, Director of the Regional Chamber of Commerce from Kruševac, the representatives of the Intellectual Property Office held lectures about the importance and strategy of IP rights protection in business, with the introduction relating to various rights. Special focus, during the lectures, was given for the protection of trademarks and indications of geographical origin, as well as rights of importance for the building of market of recognizability of agricultural and food products.
In the framework of the thematic session, the examples from practice, concerning the protection of indications of geographical origin contributing to local-economic development of the region that they originate from, were given by Goran Jović, Director of the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Jablanica and Pčinj district. This region, as Mr. Jović emphasized, has four registered indications of geographical origin for the products from Leskovac, including one that has been internationally registered and work has been going on with the goal to get international registration for one more indication and one warranty trademark. These indications contributed to the promotion of these products, greater demand for them and thus greater number of employees working in the production process, but he also emphasized that for the registration of indications, their certification and promotion, it is necessary to have support from the institutions for the benefit of small producers.