Bosnia & Herzegovina News Archives

January 27, 2012

Bosnia Accedes to Vienna Agreement on Figurative Elements of Marks

On January 19, 2012, Bosnia and Herzegovina deposited the instrument of accession to the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks.

The agreement will enter into force in Bosnia on April 19, 2012. It establishes a common classification system for marks that contain or consist of figurative elements. There are currently 31 contracting states to the agreement.

For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic at our Balkan Regional Office.

Source: WIPO

August 30, 2011

Bosnian Software Pirate Sentenced to Prison

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently sentenced Bosnian citizen Fahrudin Gološ to one year in prison for the unauthorized use of copyrighted material and ordered him to pay approximately EUR 195,000 (USD 280,000) in damages.

Gološ and his company Witnet, a software company from Tuzla, northeastern Bosnia, signed contracts in 2004 and 2005 with Bosnia’s Federal Employment Service to deliver and install Microsoft Office programs, which turned out to be illegal copies.

Gološ falsely presented his company as an authorized Microsoft representative and organized the installation of 150 copies of MS Office 2003 and 74 copies of Windows Server 2003. Only five licensed Windows Server 2003 were installed. After installing these applications, Gološ delivered a falsified license for 335 MS Office 2003 copies.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Bosnian news portal Sarajevo-x.com

July 25, 2011

Bosnian Prosecutor’s Office Charges Nine People with Copyright Violations

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently issued indictments against nine individuals charging them with the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, a criminal offense under both the Bosnian Criminal Code and the Law on Copyright and Related Rights.

Alen Hondo and Dino Bajić, residents of the capital of Sarajevo, are charged with obtaining a large amount of unlicensed Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM and Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate software with counterfeit Certificate of Authenticity stickers, and advertising and selling it for EUR 36 (USD 50) per piece.

Milorad Vukoje, owner of a store in Trebinje, in the south of Bosnia, is charged with knowingly putting into circulation illegal copies of 160 DVDs and 178 CDs.

Saša Alagić, director of a video store in Mostar, in the south of Bosnia, is charged with putting thousands of unauthorized CDs and DVDs into circulation.

Tomislav Begić is charged with putting into circulation illegal copies of 247 CDs and 552 DVDs in a facility he rented in Posušje, southern Bosnia.

Iris Vreto, owner of a shop in Sarajevo, is charged with putting into circulation a total of 2,605 illegally produced CDs and DVDs.

Kenan Osmanović, owner of a photo and video studio in Konjic, central Bosnia, is charged with purchasing and creating 1,666 pirated CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes and putting them into circulation. The indictment further alleges that Osmanović and Alma Habibija rented illegal copies of 950 CDs, 1990 DVDs and 364 VHS tapes from an independent store they established in Habibija’s house.

Finally, Ivica Galić, owner of a store in Grude, southern Bosnia, is charged with acquiring and putting into circulation 3,118 illegal CDs and DVDs.

The indictments have been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation. In Bosnia, the maximum sentence for illegal reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material is five years in prison.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Consultations Begin on Pre-Draft of Bosnian Decree on Customs Measures re Patent Holders Rights

On July 5, 2011, the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced the start of the consultation process on the Pre-Draft of the Decree on the Implementation of the Customs Measures for the Protection of the Patent Holders Rights.

The pre-draft is available in Bosnian only at this link.

All interested parties are invited to send written comments by August 15, 2011 to this email.

The Decree aims to regulate the implementation procedure for customs measures intended for the protection of patent holder’s rights in patent infringement cases, under the provisions of Articles 93-96 of the Patent Law (Official Gazette No. 53/10).

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina

June 21, 2011

Bosnian Authorities Seize 15,000 Pirated Discs

On June 2, 2011, the Bosnian authorities raided 13 locations in the towns of Velika Kladuša and Cazin, northwestern Bosnia, and discovered and temporarily seized 15,000 pirated DVDs and CDs, nine computers, one printer and two USB flash drives.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered this police action as part of measures aimed at protecting copyright.

Criminal charges will be filed against nine people for copyright infringement.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency

May 26, 2011

Bosnian Officials Seize Fake Nike, Reebok, Adidas Labels

On April 21, 2011, the Customs Sector of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia informed the PETOŠEVIĆ Bosnia office that the customs authorities seized 273,838 fake labels found to infringe the intellectual property rights of Nike, Reebok and Adidas.

The counterfeit labels were seized at the customs sub-department in the city of Brčko, northern Bosnia. The labels originated from the company called HANLEI INT LTRADING CO. from the city of Shenzhen, southern China, and were intended for a company called DŽEZA PROM from Gradačac, northeastern Bosnia.

The goods will be destroyed and the charges filed against individuals held to be responsible.

You can see the photos of the counterfeit labels here.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina

April 27, 2011

Bosnian Authorities Seize Counterfeit Massagers

The authorities from the Customs Sector of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia have recently detained 5280 counterfeit electrical and non-electrical massagers bearing the marks of Kosmodisk Classic and Relax & Tone at the customs sub-office in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

The fake goods, the total market value of which is estimated at EUR 300,000 (USD 435,000), were imported from China by two local companies owned by Chinese citizens.

To view the photos of counterfeit and genuine massager packages, please click here.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia website

January 20, 2011

Bad Faith Registrations in Bosnia Persist Despite New Law

Until recently, Bosnia had only one law on IP rights, the Law on Industrial Property, which entered into force on August 27, 2002 and covered patents, trademarks, designs and geographical indications and designations of origin. The Law, which was in force until January 1, 2011, had no provisions regarding bad faith trademark applications.

Bad faith applications were therefore tolerated and a large number of well-known global brand names passed into the hands of local counterfeit sellers. Legal remedies available in these situations were limited. Bosnian PTO did not recognize bad faith as one of the grounds for cancellation, prosecutors refused to pursue bad faith cases claiming there was no criminal intent and the civil courts were reluctant in issuing decisions in unfair competition claims.

The new Law on Trademarks, in force as of January 1, 2011, listed bad faith as one of the relative grounds for cancellation. However, without the actual use of the mark in Bosnia, it will be difficult to prove bad faith, especially with the PTO that has traditionally favored the local companies.

The most notorious example of this practice is the case of EKOSAN, an importer of textile products from China and Turkey, located in Banja Luka, northwestern Bosnia. The company registered almost 200 trademarks that belong to well-known apparel companies and requested customs monitoring. The company then managed to prohibit import attempts by other companies, including the actual owners of the marks. Among the trademarks EKOSAN registered are brands that are well known globally, but without any local presence, marketing or campaign in Bosnia. The company has even started to register some of the well-known marks in other countries in the region.

Should you require any checks done with regards to whether your own brand is owned by EKOSAN, please contact Tarik Prolaz at our Bosnia office.

Source: PETOŠEVIĆ

Bosnia Adopts Rules on Industrial Property Registration Procedures

In 2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted seven new intellectual property laws - Trademark Law, Patent Law, Law on the Protection of Indications of Geographical Origin, Law on the Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits, Law on Industrial Designs, Copyright and Related Rights Law and Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights Law. These new laws entered into force on January 1, 2011.

In accordance with the adoption of the new laws, the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina has adopted three new Books of Rules pertaining to the industrial property application and registration procedures:

Book of Rules on Procedures for Registration of Patents and Consensual Patents,
Book of Rules on Procedures for Trademark Registration, and
Book of Rules on Procedures for Design Registration.

The Books of Rules were published in the Official Gazette in December 2010 and entered into force on January 1, 2011.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina

December 21, 2010

Bosnian Customs Seize Nike, Lacoste Counterfeits

On December 3, 2010, the Customs Sector of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia informed the PETOSEVIC Bosnia office that the customs authorities seized 22,000 counterfeit Nike labels and 1,128 counterfeit Lacoste perfumes.

The counterfeit goods were imported from China by a company from the city of Velika Kladuša in the northwest of Bosnia. The goods will be destroyed and criminal charges will be filed against the company’s director.

You can see the photos of the seized perfumes and labels in our gallery.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Source: Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia

November 29, 2010

EC: Bosnia Needs to Improve IPR Enforcement

As part of the European Commission’s (EC) Enlargement Package for 2010, adopted on November 9, 2010, the EC issued a progress report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, part of which is on intellectual property rights. According to the report, some progress has been made in the adoption of IP laws, but the enforcement of IP rights still needs to be improved.

The progress has been made in the area of intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights. State-level laws on patents, trademarks, topographies of integrated circuits, geographical indications, industrial design, copyright and related rights, and the collective management of copyright have been adopted. The number of patent applications has increased. The average time needed to process a patent application has decreased from five to two years, and for trademark application from four to two and a half years.

On a less positive note, the report mentions high rates of counterfeiting and piracy and the fact that the country continues to be a point of distribution of unlicensed material to the rest of Europe. The report states that an action plan for capacity building needs to be prepared and that the coordination among enforcement bodies at various levels is still inadequate. Further efforts are required to strengthen the administrative and the enforcement capacity of Bosnia’s Institute for Intellectual Property.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina website

September 21, 2010

New Copyright Laws Published in Bosnia Official Gazette

The two recently adopted intellectual property laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Copyright and Related Rights and the Law on the Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights, were published in the Official Gazette, No. 63/10, on August 3, 2010 and will enter into force on January 1, 2011.

More details about the new laws are to follow soon.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina

June 23, 2010

Bosnian Parliament Adopts Five Draft IP Laws

On May 28, 2010, the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted five draft laws in the field of intellectual property. The laws are now being revised by a lexical commission and are expected to enter into force by the end of the year.

The following draft laws were adopted:

The Draft Law on Patents
The Draft Law on Trademarks
The Draft Law on Industrial Design
The Draft Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin
The Draft Law on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Topographies

Bosnia currently has only one law on IP rights, the Law on Industrial Property, which entered into force on August 27, 2002 covering patents, trademarks, designs and geographical indications and designations of origin. The objective is to make separate laws for each IP area, as part of Bosnia’s accession into the European Union and the harmonization of its legislation with the European Union.

The Draft Law on Patents introduces the category of non-examined patents and clearly regulates additional protection certificates for patents. It also shortens the deadline for entering into the national phase of patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from 34 to 31 months, from the international filing date.

Non-examined patents, which were previously called short-term patents, do not require substantive examination and are valid for ten years. As for additional protection certificates, they can be issued if products need to be certified by various government agencies.

The Draft Law on Trademarks abolishes the previous practice of substantive examination and introduces opposition procedures. It also allows third parties to submit informal, non-binding opinions concerning pending trademark applications.

Further changes include well-defined procedures on customs measures and administrative measures regarding the trademark enforcement, as well as introduction of certification marks, generic term disclaimers and special provisions concerning the protection of marks for wine and strong alcoholic drinks.

The Draft Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin aims to increase the protection from unfair competition. The inspection control is introduced in accordance with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The Draft Law on Industrial Designs regulates the conditions for protection of industrial design, defines the right to industrial design and regulates the procedure for international registration of industrial design.

According to the new Draft Law on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Topographies, the protection of integrated circuit topographies can be requested within two years from the day of the first commercial exploitation anywhere in the world. This area of IP has not been regulated in Bosnia by law so far.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: PETOSEVIC

May 24, 2010

Bosnia Working on New Customs Regulations for Protection of IPR

The Draft Law on Customs Measures for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights recently prepared by the customs authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, aims to ease the burdens falling on the customs, such as the costs for storing and monitoring seized good, which are now solely covered by the customs authorities. It also establishes legal framework for certain customs procedures currently not formally regulated by law.

The Customs Sector of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina has prepared new monitoring request forms and changed the monitoring requirements. Namely, after the law is adopted, there will be a two-year time limit for the monitoring of seized goods, whereas previously it was indefinite. After the two years pass, the new request is to be submitted.

Under the new law, the IP rights holders and their legal representatives will be required to supply statements that they will cover all expenses in case the seized goods prove to be genuine or in case the IP rights holders or their legal representatives cancel the customs procedure.

PETOSEVIC office in Bosnia will be actively involved in all activities regarding the law adoption procedure. The Draft is currently undergoing revision and is expected to be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina for further legislative procedure soon.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: PETOSEVIC; The Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina

April 26, 2010

Consultations on Pre-draft of Law on Customs Measures in Bosnia

On March 30, 2010, the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced the opening of the consultation process on the Pre-draft of the Law on Customs Measures for the Protection of the Intellectual Property Rights.

All interested parties are invited to send written comments on the Pre-draft by April 30, 2010 to the following email info@uino.gov.ba or address: Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje (Indirect Taxation Authority), Sektor za carine, Bana Lazarevića bb, 78 000 Banja Luka.

The law aims to harmonize Bosnian laws with the corresponding EU legislation, thus guaranteeing a higher level of intellectual property protection.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: The Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina

March 30, 2010

New Bosnian Draft Laws up for Public Discussion

A public discussion on the Draft Law on Copyrights and Related Rights and the Draft Law on the Collective Management of Copyrights and Related Rights was held in the national assembly in Sarajevo, Bosnia on March 3, 2010.

The event gathered intellectual property attorneys, legal experts, government officials, associations and agencies for protection of copyright and other interested parties.

The current law on copyrights and related rights, which entered into force in April 2002, is not harmonized with the relevant EU legislation and is only partly harmonized with the TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). The two new laws will be harmonized with the EU regulations and international convention and treaties.

The experts agreed that the collective management of copyrights and related rights is not sufficiently regulated under the current law and that it would be better regulated by a separate law.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: Sarajevo-x.com

January 20, 2010

Bosnian Council of Ministers Adopts Seven IP Draft Laws

On December 31, 2009, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted seven draft laws in the field of intellectual property, proposed by the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The following draft laws were adopted:

The Draft Law on Copyrights and Related Rights
The Draft Law on the Collective Management of Copyrights and Related Rights
The Draft Law on Industrial Property
The Draft Law on Patents
The Draft Law on Trademarks
The Draft Law on the Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin
The Draft Law on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Topographies

Bosnia currently has only one law on IP rights, the Law on Industrial Property, which entered into force on August 27, 2002 covering patents, trademarks, designs and geographical indications and designations of origin. The new proposal aims to make separate laws for each IP area, as part of Bosnia’s accession into the European Union and the harmonization of its legislation with the European Union.

The seven draft laws are expected to be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina for further consideration in the near future.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian Courts Convict 195 Pirates in the Last Four Years

From the beginning of 2005 to the end of 2009, 210 charges were pressed against 223 people accused of copyright infringement. As of January 2010, 179 sentences have been passed for 195 individuals, while other cases are still undergoing court proceedings.

“On several occasions police found individuals possessing entire plants for the production of illegal disks,” said the court spokesman Boris Grubesic. “One police raid resulted in the seizure of over 20,000 illegally produced CDs and DVDs”, Grubesic added.

There are booths selling pirated movies, music, computer software and games on the streets of almost every Bosnian city or town. Bosnia has been actively working to suppress this type of crime, but the problem still persists because of the shortage of police officers controlling the sites where illegal items are distributed.

Charges were recently pressed against Fahrudin Golos and his company Witnet from Tuzla, northeastern Bosnia. Golos gained substantial profits by falsely presenting his company as an authorized Microsoft partner. He signed a contract with Bosnia’s Federal Employment Service to deliver and install the Microsoft Office packet, which turned out to be an illegal copy.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia and Herzegovina office.

Source: Sarajevo-x.com

November 24, 2009

Two WIPO Treaties To Enter Into Force With Respect to Bosnia and Herzegovina

The World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty will enter into force, with respect to Bosnia and Herzegovina, on November 25, 2009, the Bosnian PTO informed.

This will make Bosnia and Herzegovina the 70th country to join the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the 69th state to join the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The Bosnian Government deposited the instruments of accession to the Copyright Treaty and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty with WIPO on August 25, 2009.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

Bosnia Organizes Intellectual Property Awareness Campaign

The American Chamber of Commerce in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Bosnian Institute for Intellectual Property, conducted an intellectual property awareness campaign.

The campaign’s objective was to raise public awareness for the importance of intellectual property protection. As part of this campaign, a total of 145,000 copies of children’s comic books, explaining different areas of intellectual property in a fun easy way for kids to understand, were distributed to elementary schools throughout the country.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic at our Bosnia office.

June 25, 2009

Draft of Bosnian Trademark Law Up for Discussion

A public discussion on the draft of Bosnia’s Trademark Law was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia on May 15, 2009.

The discussion was hosted by French consulting firm Sofreco and officials of the EU CARDS project entitled “Capacity Building for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina” (EUIPR).

The event gathered trademark attorneys, legal experts, government officials, business people, and other interested parties.

The draft law abolishes the previous practice of substantive examination and introduces opposition procedures.

The draft law also allows third parties to submit informal, non-binding opinions concerning the applications of others.

Further changes include well-defined procedures on customs measures and administrative measures in trademark enforcement, as well as introduction of certification marks, generic term disclaimers and special provisions concerning the protection of marks for wine and strong alcoholic drinks.

The draft Trademark Law aims to incorporate the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and relevant legislation of the European Union. It was prepared as part of the EUIPR project through joint cooperation of Bosnian and Serbian experts.

Bosnia currently has only one law on IP rights, the Law on Industrial Property, which entered into force on August 27, 2002.

In addition to the draft Patent Law and Trademark Law, EUIPR will also prepare laws on industrial designs, geographical indications, copyright law, topography of integrated circuits, and plant varieties. These will enter into parliamentary procedure only after all of them have been prepared.

For more information, please contact Tarik Prolaz in our Bosnia Office.

May 12, 2009

EU Extends Customs and Tax Assistance Project in Western Balkans

European Union’s project called Technical Assistance to Customs and Tax Administrations (TACTA) for the West Balkan countries has recently been extended until the end of August 2009.

The project, which officially started on April 4, 2008, is led by the Italian Customs and is funded by the European Commission.

As explained by TACTA Project Director Natalina Cea, the general objectives of the project are: to harmonize the customs and tax legislation and procedures with those in the EU; to establish well functioning and accountable customs and tax administrations, and to strengthen and modernize the national enforcement of customs legislation and procedures; to support legal trade; to enhance institutional capacity of beneficiary countries; and to promote regional cooperation.

TACTA teams and work plans were set up for each beneficiary country. The team leaders and staff implementing this project comprise customs and tax experts, who closely cooperate with national customs and tax administrations, and provide them with the necessary IT and expert support, such as study visits, training, workshops and seminars.

For more information, please contact Jovana Miočinović in our Balkan Regional Office.

April 14, 2009

Draft of Bosnian Patent Law Up for Discussion

French consultancy firm Sofreco and officials of the EU CARDS project “Capacity Building in Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina” (EUIPR) hosted a public discussion on the draft of Bosnian Patent Law in Sarajevo on April 9, 2009.

The discussion gathered patent attorneys, legal experts, government officials, business people, and other interested parties.

The draft law introduces the category of non-examined patents, and clearly regulates additional protection certificates for patents. It also shortens the deadline for entering into the national phase of patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from 34 to 31 months, from the international filing date.

The draft Patent Law incorporates all provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and relevant laws of the European Union. It was prepared as part of the EUIPR project through joint cooperation of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian experts.

Bosnia currently has only one law on IP rights, the Law on Industrial Property, which entered into force on August 27, 2002. In addition to the draft Patent Law, EUIPR will also prepare laws on trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications. Only after all four laws have been prepared, will they enter into parliamentary procedure.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia Office.

Bosnia Hosts WIPO Seminar on Patent Cooperation Treaty

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Bosnian Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) held a seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in Mostar on April 1 and 2, 2009.

The main purpose of the seminar was to explain the procedure for filing patent applications under the PCT. The event gathered Bosnian patent attorneys and employees of the Patent Department of the Bosnian PTO.

The seminar featured speeches by Jean Luc Baron, head of the Offices Services Section of the PCT International Cooperation Division, and Silvija Trpkovska, program activities officer of the Offices Services Section of the PCT International Cooperation Division.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia Office.

March 17, 2009

Bosnia Ratifies Phonograms Convention

On February 25, 2009, Bosnia and Herzegovina officially ratified the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms.

The Bosnian government deposited the necessary instrument for the ratification of the Convention on February 19, 2009.

The Convention will enter into force in Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 25, 2009.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia Office.

Bosnian Authorities Destroy Counterfeit LG Goods

Officials of the Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina have destroyed 2,387 counterfeit LG batteries and 300 earphones in Sarajevo.

The counterfeit goods were imported from China by the Sarajevo-based company ANKA d.o.o. They were seized on February 3, 2009. For photos go here.

For more information, please contact Alma Vilic in our Bosnia Office.

December 03, 2008

Bosnia-Herzegovina accedes to three international IP treaties

The country will become a party to the Budapest Treaty on the deposit of microorganisms for patent procedures, the Madrid Protocol concerning the international registration of marks, and the Strasbourg Agreement on international patent classification.

The Budapest Treaty and the Madrid Protocol will take effect in Bosnia-Herzegovina on January 27, 2009. The Strasbourg Agreement enters into force on October 27, 2009.

For more information, contact Judith Goeke in our Balkan Regional Office.

October 27, 2008

Bosnia, Bulgaria and Lithuania ratify Geneva Act of Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs

The three countries formally acceded to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement on International Registration of Industrial Designs by depositing their accession documents with WIPO.

This treaty allows users to apply for protection of industrial designs in the EU and other member states by filing one single application for registration. The treaty took effect in Lithuania on September 26, 2008, in Bulgaria on October 7, 2008, and in Bosnia & Herzegovina it will take effect on December 24, 2008.

27 other countries are currently contracting parties to the Geneva Act.

For more information, contact Ms. Judith Goeke in our Balkan Regional Office.

December 01, 2004

Extension of European Patents available in Bosnia & Herzegovina starting December 1, 2004

On December 1, 2004, the Co-operation and Extension Agreement between Bosnia & Herzegovina and the European Patent Office enters into force.

More precisely, under this Agreement, it will be possible to extend the protection conferred by the European patent applications and patents to Bosnia & Herzegovina without any subsequent examination. European patents extended to Bosnia & Herzegovina will have the same effect as national patents granted in the territory of Bosnia & Herzegovina. However, it is important to note that extensions to Bosnia & Herzegovina will be available only for European patent applications and international patent applications (entering European regional phase) filed on or after December 1, 2004 and for which the extension fee has been paid to the European Patent Office.

Regarding the filing procedure, the request for an extension should be filed by the applicant within 3 months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin.

For more information on the extension of European patents to Bosnia & Herzegovina, please contact our Bosnia representative.

September 20, 2004

SD PETOSEVIC Opens Bosnia Office

On June 4, 2004, SD PETOSEVIC b.v.b.a. established an office in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Mrs. Amra Foco serves as the Legal Representative of the Bosnia office.

Establishment of the Bosnia office represents another milestone in SD PETOSEVIC’s steadily expanding Balkan practice and a significant commitment to its already extensive Eastern European practice, conducted from offices in Brussels and Belgrade.

SD PETOSEVIC’s presence in Bosnia is also invaluable in continuing to meet and exceed clients’ expectations. It comes at a significant moment as extensive privatization and legal reforms are expected in Bosnia. These changes are expected to cause an acceleration of foreign investment as well as to create business opportunities for SD PETOSEVIC clients.

For more information on SD PETOSEVIC Bosnia office, please contact our Bosnia representative.