SERBIA: An Introduction to Intellectual Property

Practice Area Overview 

Serbia’s main areas with potential for growth are the IT/creative industries sector and agriculture, alongside the energy sector and tourism.

This article focuses on IT/creative industries and agriculture as areas related to and supported by IP rights. The article will also outline a Serbia-specific tool in the battle against counterfeiters – market supervision similar to customs measures of control and supervision on the border.

Introduction 

Political and economic scene in Serbia 

Serbia geographically belongs to Europe, but it is not yet an EU member country. Serbia’s negotiations with the EU began in Brussels on 21 January 2014.

Harmonisation process in the IP sector 

In 2017, Negotiating Chapter 7 – Intellectual Property was opened. Harmonisation of the Republic of Serbia’s legislation in the intellectual property field with EU legislation aims to create a reliable intellectual property system that enables innovation promotion and investment protection, creating a favourable environment for investing. Serbia’s main legislation regarding Chapter 7 of the Intellectual Property Law concerns: the Patents Law, the Trademarks Law, the Law on the Legal Protection of Industrial Design, the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, the Law on the protection of Topography of Semiconductor Products, and the Law on Indications of Geographical Origin.

During the harmonisation process in the last five years, there have been many changes to Serbian IP legislation, and these changes are still in ongoing. The new Trademarks Law was brought in in 2020, making this law almost fully harmonised with EU legislation. The Patents Law was amended in 2018, 2019 and 2021. It already implements certain provisions fully harmonised with the EU legislation (eg, supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for paediatric pharmaceuticals); however, these provisions will become applicable upon the accession of the Republic of Serbia to the EU. The Law on Copyright and Related Rights was amended in 2019 in view of software and related rights. Currently, there is an ongoing public discussion about further amendments expected to be made during the year 2023. These amendments will adopt the EU Directives 2012/28 and 2014/26 in the Serbian legal system. Implementation of EU Directives 2019/789 and 2019/790 are planned for the year 2025. The amendments of the Law on the protection of Topography of Semiconductor Products from 2019 provide a broader protection referring to all electric circuits, including those made of discrete components. The Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets from 2021 is significantly harmonised with the respective EU legislation and it aims to protect companies’ investments.

In the field of data protection, the new Law on protection of Personal data came into effect in 2018, relying on the GDPR.

Additionally, Serbia has drafted legislation regarding digital assets. The Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia has also issued a few security tokens that can be used as financial instruments on Serbian territory.

However, although there is lively legislative activity, from the perspective of practitioners, we have to remark that simply harmonising laws with EU legislation is not sufficient without building institutions to support them, which is not properly taken care of and will need time to ensure.

IP in the IT sector 

Over the past several years, lots of IT companies, as well as many gaming companies, are choosing to establish office departments and subsidiaries in Serbia. In addition, there are many successful Serbian IT companies. The positive economic and work climate in this area is also reflected in many very successful start-up companies that are constantly emerging. For example, according to the Serbian Games Association, around 60% of their members create their original IP; their members (130 entities) generated a revenue of EUR125 million in 2021.

Protection of software is regulated primarily through the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. Although computer software per se is excluded from patent protection in the Patents Law, there is a trend of patenting inventions with implemented computer software. Patent protection is possible if there is a technical element involved beyond a simple interaction between software and hardware.

During the past year, an additional factor has been influencing the climate in Serbia in this area. As an unfortunate result of the war in Ukraine, many skilled IT professionals from Ukraine and Russia have moved their families and businesses to Serbia searching for safe work and life opportunities, which resulted in an increased number of newly-founded IT companies and start-ups in Serbia.

IP in agriculture – plant breeders’ rights and plant varieties register

Serbia has very favourable natural conditions for diverse agricultural production, as well as a selection of numerous plant cultures which are renowned around the world. The most important Serbian agricultural products include corn, wheat (flour), sunflower sugar beet (sugar), soyabeans (oil and protein products), potatoes, raspberries, apples, plums, cherries and grapes.

There is a growing interest in plant breeders’ rights and protection of plant varieties, registered with the Ministry of Agriculture. Not being a member of the European Union, filing plant breeders’ rights applications before the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) cannot provide protection in Serbia. However, co-operation between the official authorities exists in many ways. For example, results from the CPVO’s distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) testing are relevant for granting protection in Serbia. Besides the procedure for granting plant breeders’ rights, it is also necessary to ensure that a new foreign plant variety has been entered into the national listings in order to export it and place it on the market. The annual maintenance fee has to be paid and the right of the breeder to the protected plant variety lasts for 25 years, or 30 years for potatoes, vines, woody fruits and other trees, from the date of recognition of the right.

Market inspection as a particularity of Serbian intellectual property (IP)

Market protection has existed since 2006, as per the Law on Special Powers for the Purpose of Efficient Protection of Intellectual Property Rights. It represents an efficient way of enforcement of registered IP rights in view of the goods in trade. The system is similar to the customs border measures within customs enforcement of intellectual property rights. Upon application for action filed with the IP department of the Ministry of Trade, the IP right-holder has an efficient way to remove infringing objects from the market. The protection lasts one year and may be prolonged an indefinite number of times. During the course of protection, the Trade Inspection inspects the stores and online sales and notifies the right-holder of suspected counterfeits. Within 15 days, the right-holder may inspect the goods, request destruction of the seized goods if the infringer does not object to the seizure or initiate court proceedings to protect its rights.

It is possible for the right-holder to provide training to market inspectors and customs officials in order to assist them in recognising counterfeit goods.

This particular system of IP protection has proved quite efficient in practice as a mechanism of stopping circulation and placement of counterfeit goods that have already been imported to Serbia.