On 28 May 2020, Ministry of Justice of Republic of Serbia, Commercial Court of Appeal, Commercial Court in Belgrade, Court of Appeal in Belgrade, High Court in Belgrade, and Intellectual Property Office signed the Agreement on Cooperation for enhancing of the use of Mediation in in Intellectual Property Disputes.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a special ceremony is postponed and will be subsequently organized with the aim to officially present and promote the Agreement when circumstances allow.
The Guidelines for the Improvement of Mediation in the Republic of Serbia enacted on 28 June 2017 emphasize that it is a court’s obligation to provide all necessary information in order to fully inform the parties about the possibility of mediation, and to encourage the court’s active cooperation with external partners on the basis of concluded cooperation protocols. In line with that, the Ministry of Justice and courts which have jurisdiction in the field of intellectual property law, on one side, and the Intellectual Property Office, which is responsible for the administrative and professional tasks related to industrial property rights, copyright and related rights, on the other side, have recognized the importance of mutual cooperation in this specific area and the need to improve conditions for the development of mediation, in order to ensure better and more effective protection of the parties’ rights. The Ministry of Justice will support the implementation of the Agreement on Cooperation and will, together with other signatories, continuously undertake activities to inform the general public about the possibilities and benefits of mediation. The Ministry of Justice, relevant courts and the Intellectual Property Office are supported by the European Union project “EU with Justice” in the implementation of this activity.
In order to achieve intended objectives of the Agreement on Cooperation, the signatories will work on implementing the prescribed activities through continuous providing of the relevant information to potential parties, lawyers and other interested parties about the possibilities and benefits of using mediation in the field of intellectual property law, organizing joint activities and events, such as conferences, seminars, consultations, professional programs, Open Days and Info Sessions regarding the mediation in the field of Intellectual property law, as well as establishment of continuous dialogue and exchange of information related to the mediation.
Having in mind the current epidemiological situation, the signatories will consider what are possible activities that can be taken in order to promote mediation through social media, institutions’ websites, and other appropriate means of communication.
As the first result of the cooperation, the Intellectual Property Office made a separate section on the website of the institution dedicated to mediation, as well as a list of mediators with specific knowledge in the field intellectual property law, which is available to both courts and all other interested parties on the Intellectual Property Office website.
Pamphlet with the relevant promotional material have been prepared for distribution in courts and can be found here.
The Agreement on Cooperation is available on the following link.