Croatia News Archives
June 25, 2009
Croatian Chamber of Patent and Trademark Representatives Established
The Croatian Chamber of Patent and Trademark Representatives was founded in Zagreb on June 9, 2009.
One of the main tasks of the Chamber in 2010 will be to draft the amendments to the Law on Representatives in the Field of Industrial Property Rights.
The Chamber assembly unanimously adopted the Statute, the Code of Ethics, and the Code of Conduct.
The assembly also elected the president and the vice president of the Chamber, members of the Executive Board and of the Monitoring Board, secretary and treasurer.
For more information, please contact Ancica Juricic in our Croatia Office.
May 12, 2009
Counterfeit Armani Apparel Destroyed in Croatia
On April 16, 2009, the Croatian Customs destroyed 3,499 counterfeit Armani belts, and 858 counterfeit Armani wallets in the town of Petrinja in central Croatia.
Representatives of the PETOŠEVIĆ office in Croatia witnessed the destruction.
The belts were destroyed manually with a circular saw, while the wallets were turned into shreds with a machine.
The customs officials seized the counterfeit goods in Rijeka in northwestern Croatia. The goods were imported by a local company from China.
The seizure contained almost 9,000 kilograms of various apparel and accessories bearing the trademarks of Diesel, Louis Vuitton, Dolce&Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Versace, Gucci, Burberry, Chanel, Guess, Hugo Boss, Prada, Fendi, Adidas, Nike, Playboy and others.
For photos go here.
For more information, please contact Ančica Juričić in our Croatia office.
March 17, 2009
Amended Croatian IP Laws Enter into Force
Several amended intellectual property laws entered into force in Croatia on March 17, 2009:
- The Amended Law on Patents
- The Amended Law on Trademarks
- The Amended Law on Industrial Designs
- The Amended Law on Geographical Indications, Topographies and Semiconductors
- The Amended Law on Administrative Fees
The most important change introduced by the Amended Law on Patents concerns the procedure for extension and validation of European patents under the London Agreement.
According to Article 17, all European patents and extended European patents registered after May 1, 2008 and published in the official gazette of the European Patent Office (EPO) will be regulated by Article 65 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), regardless of whether they were granted following an opposition and/or appeal proceeding.
In other words, when the Amended Law on Patents enters into force, applicants for (extended) European patents do not have to submit the full patent text translation into Croatian, but only the translation of patent claims.
The main changes introduced by the Amended Laws on Trademarks and Industrial Designs concern absolute and relative grounds for refusal, continuation of proceedings, international trademark/design registrations, and Community trademarks/designs.
According to the Amended Law on Trademarks, a trademark can be rejected on absolute grounds if it is “devoid of any distinctive character”, or if there exists an earlier registered geographical indication and indication of origin.
A trademark can be rejected on relative grounds if a representative or agent files the application, and if the interested party claims bad faith.
The Amended Laws on Trademarks and Industrial Designs no longer contain the provision that enabled interested parties to prevent the use of a Community trademark/design in Croatia by initiating a court proceeding in cases when a trademark/industrial design could not be rejected on absolute grounds.
Both amended laws introduce extensions to enable applicants or IP right holders to re-establish their right should they have missed applicable deadlines. The request may be filed no later than two months after the party learned about the missed deadline.
The Amended Law on Industrial Designs also extends the deadline for submitting a response to the rejection of international design registration. The deadline was extended from 60 days to four months following the official date of notification.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic or Ivan Kos in our Croatia Office.
December 03, 2008
Effective January 1, 2009, Croatia simplifies procedures for renewals of the customs watch application
Croatia customs is simplifying the process for renewing a customs watch application.
For customs watch applications filed and granted after January 1, 2009, the IPR holder or his legal representative can apply for the renewal of the watch every year thereafter, indefinitely, without having to file a new application. The renewal request must be made in writing each year before the expiration date of the original granted application.
This change only applies to applications made after January 1, 2009. Existing rights holders should wait for the termination of their current granted term, and then file a new application to take advantage of the simplified renewal procedures.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic at our Croatia Office.
April 30, 2008
Croatian IP Office No Longer Issues the Official Filing Certificates
Starting May 1, 2008, the Croatian IP Office will no longer issue the official filing certificates for design and trademark applications. The official filing certificates included the assigned application number and the filing date.
The application number and the filing date will still be recorded by the IPO immediately upon receipt of an application. However, an official filing certificate that would normally follow to inform applicants of the application number and the filing date will no longer be issued.
An assigned application number and the filing date will be sent to the applicant upon Examiner’s review of the application and will be included in Examiner’s first correspondence to the applicant concerning the application.
The IP Office in Croatia noted that regulations did not require issuing a certificate at the time of application and that the practice was time-consuming for its staff.
The IP Office hopes this change in procedure will reduce the time needed to process applications.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic or Ivan Kos.
December 14, 2007
Croatia acquires full EPO membership status. EPC enters into force on January 1, 2008.
Following amendments to the Intellectual Property Laws in Croatia enacted in July 2007, the Croatian Parliament adopted new Regulations amending Regulations on Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Geographical Indications and Appellations of Origin and Topographies and Semiconductors. The Regulations came into force on November 14, 2007 and were published in the Official Gazette No. 117/07.
On October 31, 2007 the Republic of Croatia has deposited its instrument of accession to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and to the Act revising the EPC of November 29, 2000. Accordingly, the European Patent Convention shall enter into force in Croatia on January 1, 2008. Extension agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the European Patent Organization that is still in force will be terminated when EPC comes into force in Croatia.
European patent applications that are filed on or after January 1, 2008 will include the designation of the new contracting state, HR. However, it will not be possible to designate Croatia retroactively in applications filed before January 1, 2008.
With respect to the PCT system and international applications, any PCT application filed on or after January 1, 2008 will automatically designate Croatia for the purpose of obtaining a European patent (Rule 4.9(a) PCT). However, European patents for Croatia cannot be granted on the basis of international applications with the filing date prior to January 1, 2008. A national patent may be granted assuming that Croatia has been designated in the international application. Moreover, International applications with the designation of Croatia with a filing date prior to January 1, 2008 shall be deemed invalid.
Currently, and in compliance with provisions of Article 103 (2) and (3) concerning extension of European patents to Croatia, the owner of European patent has to submit a full translation of patent specification in Croatian language. By entering into force of the EPC in Croatia, Article 65 of the Convention for the Grant of European Patents will automatically come into force, as well as Article 114 of the Croatian Law Amending the Law on Patents.
The provisions of Article 114 stipulates that the owner of a European patent will have to submit an English translation of patent specification or English translation of the specification and the Croatian translation of patent claims, where patent has been granted in a language of the proceedings other than English. English text of patent specification shall be regarded as authentic in any proceedings in the Republic of Croatia, except in revocations proceeding, where the translations in the Croatian language confers protection narrower in scope than that conferred by the extended European patent in the language of proceedings.
Nonetheless, in case of a dispute relating to the extended European patent, and upon request of the alleged infringer, or the competent court or other judicial authority in the course of legal proceedings, the owner of the European patent will still have to, at his own expense, provide full translation of the specification in the Croatian language (Article 114(3).
For more information please contact Anamarija Stancic at SD PETOSEVIC Croatia.
October 10, 2007
Croatia Amends Intellectual Property Laws
As part of the accession process of the Republic of Croatia into European Union and harmonization of Croatian legislation with the acquis communautaire, the amendments to existing Intellectual Property Laws of Croatia came into force in August 2007.
The amendments affect Croatia’s Patent Law, Trademark Law, Law on Industrial Designs, Law on Geographical Indications and Appellation of Origin, Law on Protection of Topographies and Semiconductors and Law on Copyright and Related Rights.
Above amendments are now completely harmonized with the EU Laws in the field of intellectual property rights.
The most important change is the introduction of the Appeal Proceeding before the Croatian State IP Office against decisions rendered in the first-instance administrative procedure. The Appeal Board will be appointed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia and will work independently. The provisions related to the Appeal proceedings are expected to come into force on June 1, 2008.
The amendments will provide more transparency in the decision rendering process in the first instance.
The above amendments also correct certain errors and further clarify existing provisions of above-mentioned Laws. The Laws were published in the Official Gazette No. 76/2007 on July 23, 2007 and Official Gazette No. 79/2007 on July 30, 2007.
For more information please contact Anamarija Stancic at SD PETOSEVIC Croatia.
Croatia Ratified European Patent Convention
The Croatian Parliament has passed the Law on Ratification of the Convention for Grant of the European Patents (EPC) and the Act on Agreement on the Application of Article 65 of the Convention for the Grant of the European Patents. The laws were published on July 18, 2007 in the Official Gazette No. 8/2007 and came into force on July 26, 2007.
The implementation of the Law on Application on Amendments to Article 65 of the EPC shall be the responsibility of the administrative body competent for intellectual property matters.
By ratification of the European Patent Convention, Croatia has fulfilled basic conditions for becoming a full member of the European Patent Organization. Namely, upon signing of the Extension Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Patent Organization, Croatia has participated in the European Patent System since April 1, 2004, from which date it was possible to extend European Patents to Croatia.
After reaching the full-member status, Croatia will become an active participant in further developments of the European Patent System. At the same time, Croatian entities and individuals will be able to obtain a European Patent through a more simplified procedure.
Croatia will achieve the full-member status after depositing the instrument of ratification with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, which is expected in the near future.
For more information please contact Anamarija Stancic at SD PETOSEVIC Croatia.
August 13, 2007
CROATIA - On August 8th new Regulation amending Regulation on Customs measures for goods suspected to infringe IP rights came into force
On the basis of Article 70, paragraph 3 of the Customs Law, the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted a new Regulation amending Regulation on the Customs measures for goods suspected to infringe certain intellectual property rights.
Most importantly, the amendments deal with:
an introduction of a new rule that states that the Customs measures providing protection for IP rights will begin to also apply to the goods circulating by post;
a simplified procedure for destruction of infringing goods.
The amended provisions of the Regulation provide that the Customs measures for protection of IP rights now fully apply to all shipments (irrespective of the value and quantity of goods), which is particularly important considering a recent widespread practice of purchasing goods via the Internet, most often delivered to a purchaser by mail.
Likewise, the provisions of the amended Regulation now provide for a simplified procedure for the destruction of infringing goods. The rights holder is now able to submit the request for the destruction of temporarily detained goods that are under customs surveillance without an obligation to establish beforehand whether the detained goods infringe the intellectual property right under the valid provisions of the applicable law; and moreover, without the provisional consent of a declarant, holder or owner of alleged counterfeit goods.
This is a very important change. Prior to this amendment, goods in transit found and detained by the Customs could not be destroyed until the final court decision. This was often a difficult decision to obtain because of the laborious process of identifying foreign consignees and foreign consignors and contacting all parties in the procedure. Therefore, the amended provisions of the new Regulation on Customs measures make it easier for IP rights holders to enforce their intellectual property rights.
For more information please contact Anamarija Stancic at SD PETOSEVIC Croatia.
Source: Central Customs Office in Zagreb, Mr. Mario Demirovic, Intellectual Property Protection Division of the Croatian Customs.
May 19, 2006
Croatia Adopts New Regulations on Border Measures Relating to Infringing Goods
The new regulation came into force on May 13, 2006.
Some of the more important changes include:
Border measures now apply to the goods in transit;
New forms have been created for filing custom applications, as well as declarations;
Requests for destruction of temporarily seized goods under the border surveillance can now be filed by the rights holder without first determining whether the IP rights are in fact infringed;
New provision was introduced concerning the seizure of sample goods for analysis of infringement.
For a full article, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic in our Croatia office.
April 19, 2006
Croatia’s accession to the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) enters into force on July 4, 2006
The objective of the TLT is to harmonize and simplify the procedures for applying to register a trademark, amend the registration and renew a mark among acceding countries.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced that Croatia had deposited its instruments of accession to the Trademark Law Treaty on April 4, 2006.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic in our Croatia office.
March 16, 2006
Croatian Commercial Courts Launch Conciliation Proceedings Initiative for IP Disputes
On March 15, 2006, Croatian commercial courts launched implementation of the project titled “Strengthening conciliation proceedings as an alternative dispute resolution method.” This project is geared towards more effective resolution of intellectual property disputes that are on the rise in Croatia.
The project is part of the PHARE program, which is the main channel for the European Union’s financial and technical cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The primary objective of this pilot project is to reduce the amount of backlogged cases at the courts, as well as to promote conciliation proceedings as means of efficient and cost effective dispute resolution.
For purposes of conciliation proceedings, the original jurisdiction of commercial courts extends to the following matters:
Conciliation of disputes arising out of commercial contracts and disputes for compensation of damages arising out of these contracts between the parties performing commercial activities;
Conciliation of disputes concerning the violation of intellectual property rights, protection and use of inventions and of company name;
Conciliation of disputes concerning the act of unfair competition, monopolistic agreements and violation of the company’s integrity on the Croatian market
The mediation and conciliation procedure is voluntary and is subject to an agreement between disputed parties. One or more independent conciliators will be appointed to the proceeding to assist parties in reaching a compromise agreement.
If the conciliation proceeding fails and the parties do not reach an amicable solution regarding the dispute within the period of 60 (sixty) days, the parties will be allowed to continue with the court proceeding before the commercial court.
The conciliation proceeding is available to local and foreign natural persons and legal entities established under the national or foreign laws in all disputes over the rights that they may freely dispose of.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic in our Croatia office.
February 17, 2006
On May 9, 2006 the Vienna Agreement Will Enter Into Force in the Republic of Croatia
Croatia was approved and notified of its accession to the Vienna agreement by the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization on February 9, 2006.
The countries to which Vienna agreement applies constitute what is known as a Special Union and adopt common classification for the figurative elements of marks. The agreement has the same duration as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
As any other country of the Special Union, the Republic of Croatia has the right to denounce the agreement by notifying the Director General. Denunciation would take effect one year after the receipt of the denunciation by the Director General. The right for denunciation could be exercised only five years after becoming a member of the Special Union.
For more information, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic in our Croatia office.
May 26, 2005
Croatia Passes New Law On Representatives In The Field Of Industrial Property
On April 14, 2005, the Croatian parliament has enacted a new Law on representatives in the field of industrial property. The Law will be in force as of August 1, 2005.
Among other things, the new Law modified qualification requirements for patent representatives. Specifically, the requirements were “softened” to include persons without technical/scientific university degree and lawyers registered before the Croatian Bar Association.
The other important modification is that a law office/firm or companies registered for IP representation need not employ patent/trademark representatives or lawyers with a relevant exam. They can now “co-operate with such persons based on contractual relationship other than employment”.
In order to become a patent representative in Croatia, one of the following requirements must be met:
One must be a Croatian citizen, residing in Croatia and holding a degree in science and/or engineering. He/she must also pass the Qualifying exam for patent representative before the Croatian PTO; or
One must be a Croatian citizen, residing in Croatia and holding a degree other than science and/or engineering, but that person must have minimum 5 (five) years of relevant IP experience. He/she must also pass the Qualifying exam for a patent representative before the Croatian PTO; or
One must be a lawyer registered before the Croatian Bar Association, who has passed the Qualifying exam for patent representative before the Croatian PTO or a law firm employing such a lawyer or co-operates with him/her based on contractual relationship other than employment; or
A legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set in 1) or 2) above or co-operates with him/her based on contractual relationship other than employment.
In order to become a trademark representative in Croatia, one of the following requirements must be met:
One must be a Croatian citizen, residing in Croatia and holding a university degree. He/she must pass the Qualifying exam for trademark representative before the Croatian PTO; or
One must be a lawyer registered before the Croatian Bar Association or a law firm employing such a lawyer or co-operates with him/her based on contractual relationship other than employment; or
A legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set in 5) above or co-operates with him/her based on contractual relationship other than employment.
The new Law also regulates following matters:
Professional examination for representatives;
POA;
Requirements to register as certified patent/trademark representative;
The Register of patent/trademark representatives, and
Chamber of representatives in the field of Intellectual property.
Finally, the Law stipulates a transition period of 2 (two) years from enactment of the law in order to provide practicing patent/trademark representatives in Croatia with enough time to pass the qualifying exams. Furthermore, new representatives may register provisionally in the period between the enactment of the law and the date of its applicability but have to pass the required exams within 2 years of enactment of the law.
For more information on the above-discussed amendments to the Croatian IP law, please contact Anamarija Stancic Petrovic in our Croatia office.
March 25, 2005
2004 Counterfeiting Report by Croatian State Inspectorate
According to the 2004 Report by the Croatian State Inspectorate, Croatian market is not more exposed to counterfeit goods than markets in other transition countries.
In fact, EU countries, as well the US, are as exposed to counterfeit goods.
Croatian IP Laws, as well as the Law on Customs, are now fully harmonized with EU legislation. Through regulations and various bodies of executive power (inspectorate, customs, police), Croatia is minimizing counterfeiting and sanctioning the infringers.
The circulation of goods on the Croatian market is continually inspected in order to protect consumers and trademark owners from counterfeit products. The State Inspectorate is responsible for instigating the inspection of goods while the Croatian Customs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs coordinate suppression of counterfeits.
The Croatian Trademark Law is applied to individual, collective and certification marks that are pending and/or registered at the Croatian State Intellectual Property Office. It is also applied to International Trademark Registrations valid in Croatia as per Madrid Agreement. In case of an infringement, in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Law, the infringers are subject to a fine, while counterfeit goods are being seized and destroyed.
Most counterfeit products on the Croatian market originate from Turkey, Italy, China and Thailand or are locally made. They include well-known brands such as ADIDAS, BIG STAR, CALVIN KLEIN, DIESEL, FENDI, FILA, FISHBONE, GAS, GUCCI, HUGO BOSS, LEVI STRAUSS, LEVIS, LOTTO, LOUIS VUITTON, NAUTICA, NAVIGARE, NIKE, PUMA, PAUL&SHARK, SPEEDO, SERGIO TACCHINI, TOMMY HILFIGER and UNGARO.
As reported by the State Inspectorate, in 2004 inspectors carried out a total of 1869 inspections on the sales of textile goods, footwear and headgear which used registered trademarks without the permission from the trademark owners. Approximately 1 million Euros worth of goods were seized and infringers were sanctioned accordingly. The seized goods were mainly Louis Vuitton leather goods and various garment and footwear brands such as PUMA, ADIDAS, BIG STAR, HNS and FILA.
Music and cinematographic works (CD, audio and video), as well as computer software, are regulated by the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. In 2004, approximately 360 pirated CDs, 41 pirated audiocassettes and 227 pirated video grams were seized and destroyed.
For more information on 2004 Report by the Croatian State Inspectorate, please contact our Croatia representative.
Prepared by Anamarija Stancic Petrovic of SD PETOSEVIC Croatia
January 04, 2005
Croatian Parliament affirms the Patent Law Treaty
The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) and its regulations were published on October 6, 2004 in the Official Gazette No. 10/2004; Section on International Treaties.
The law came into force eight days after its publication although the provisions of the PLT came into effect on the date of publication.
The Croatian administrative body competent for intellectual property matters shall be responsible for the implementation of the PLT.
The provisions and the regulations of the PLT will be applicable to national and regional applications for patents for invention as well as patents of addition, filed with or for the Office of a Contracting Party.
Contracting Party is defined as any state or inter-governmental organization that is party to the PLT.
In addition, the provisions and the regulations of the PLT will also be applicable to national and regional applications, which are:
a) Types of applications permitted to be filed as international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty,
b) Divisional applications of the types of applications referred as per above, for patents for invention or for patents of addition, as referred to in Article 4 (1) or (2) of the Paris Convention.
Subject to the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the provisions of the PLT, as well as the regulations, shall apply to international applications, for patents for invention and for patents of addition, under the PCT:
c) in respect of the time limits applicable under Articles 22 and 39 (1) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty in the Office of a Contracting Party,
d) in respect of any procedure commenced on or after the date on which processing or examination of the international application may start under Article 23 or 40 of that Treaty.
The provisions of the PLT and the regulations shall also be applicable to national and regional patents for invention, and to national and regional patents of addition, which have been granted with effect for a Contracting Party.
However, no Contracting Party shall be obliged to apply the provisions of the PLT and the regulations to any procedure in proceedings with respect to applications that are pending, and to patents which are in force, if such procedure commenced before the date on which the PLT binds that Contracting Party.
The regulations annexed to the PLT provide:
- Rules concerning the matters which the PLT expressly provides are to be “prescribed in the Regulations”;
- Details useful in the implementation of the provisions of the PLT, and
- Administrative requirements, matters or procedures.
The regulations also provide rules concerning the formal requirements relating to requests for recordation of change in name or address; recordation of change in applicant or owner; recordation of a license or a security interest and correction of a mistake.
It is now expected that the provisions of the PLT will reflect the current provisions of the Patent Law and regulations with regards to granting procedure itself and the amendments to the existing Law will be made accordingly.
Among other things, amendments provide an opportunity for a Contracting Party to:
- Make observations, amendments or corrections in case of intended revocation or invalidations of a patent;
- Have the right for reinstatement of rights after a finding of due care or unintentional acts by the Office;
- File electronically, where such filing is available;
- Have the maintenance fee paid by any person (Article 7(b)).
For more information on the PLT, please contact our Croatia representative.
December 18, 2004
Croatian Parliament Enacts Amendments to the Law on Administrative Fees in the Field of Intellectual Property
The amendments were published on November 10, 2004 and came into force on November 18, 2004.
The Croatian government committed itself to a 30 day grace period from the day of enforcement to align its current decree on administrative fees with the amendments. During that period, the current decree will stay in force.
For more information on the amendments, please read our recent news article on the changes to the IP law in Croatia or contact our Croatia representative.
November 20, 2004
Croatia amends its IP law in order to harmonize with the European Union legislation
During September and October 2004, three drafts of the IP law have been proposed to the Croatian parliament with the request for urgent enforcement.
The drafts relate to the following:
- The new Law on Ratification of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT);
- The new Law on Administrative fees and procedural charges in the field of industrial property; and
- The new Law on Representatives in the field of industrial property.
The new Law on Ratification of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) was adopted at the Diplomatic Conference in Geneva on June 1, 2000, and was signed by 53 WIPO member states and one intergovernmental organization. The Republic of Croatia was one of the signatories.
The enforcement of the PLT will amend the current Croatian patent law. Primarily, the formal requirements for assigning the application date will be amended.
The Croatian patent law will also be amended with regards to the mandatory representation before the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). According to the PLT, a party will have the power to undertake specific actions before the PTO independently.
The enforcement of the new Law on Ratification of the PLT is also in the interest of the WTO members, as the patent application filing procedure will be made uniform and a simpler patent grant procedure will be established.
The new Law on Administrative fees and procedural charges in the field of industrial property
The new Law on Administrative fees and procedural charges does not amend the current schedule of fees. However, additional fees are being introduced. Specifically, a fee for the payment of the supplementary protection certificate for patents, as well as the new schedule of fees for patent annuities.
The new Law on Representatives in the field of industrial property
The new Law on Representatives in the field of industrial property addresses new requirements for passing the Qualifying exam for all IP representatives.
According to the new Law on Representatives, there will be a transition period of 2 years within which all present representatives may continue with their practice until the 2 year grace period ends. At that time, only those representatives who meet the specific requirements of the new Law on Representatives will be registered before the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
Procedure for the Qualifying exam, examiners and exam content will be prescribed by a special Regulation that should be prepared within the term of 6 (six) months.
In order to become a patent representative in Croatia, one of the following requirements must be met:
One must be a Croatian citizen, residing in Croatia and holding a degree in science and/or engineering. He/she must also pass the Qualifying exam for patent representative before the Croatian PTO; or
One must be a lawyer registered before the Croatian Bar Association and employing a person who meets the requirements set in 1) above; or
A legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set in 1) above.
In order to become a trademark representative in Croatia, one of the following requirements must be met:
One must be a Croatian citizen, residing in Croatia and holding university degree. He/she must pass the Qualifying exam for trademark representative before the Croatian PTO; or
One must be a lawyer registered before the Croatian Bar Association and employing a person who meets the requirements set in 1) above; or
A legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set in 1) above.
The new Law on Representatives is expected to come into force on June 1, 2005.
For more information on the above discussed amendments to the Croatian IP law, please contact our Croatia representative.
June 09, 2004
Extension of European Patents now available in Croatia
On April 1st, 2004, the Co-operation and Extension Agreement between Croatia and the European Patent Office entered into force.
The agreement in question comes shortly after the enforcement of a new Croatian Patent Law on January 1, 2004, which confirmed Croatian interest to have its patent practice fully harmonized with EU legislation
Under the Co-operation and Extension Agreement, all protections conferred by the European patent applications and patents will extend to Croatia without any subsequent examination. The European patents extended to Croatia will have the same effect as national patents granted in the territory of Croatia. However, it is important to note that extensions to Croatia will be available only for European patent applications and international patent applications (entering European regional phase) filed on or after April 1, 2004 and for which the extension fee has been paid to the European Patent Office.
Regarding the filing procedure, the applicant should file the request for an extension within 3 months from the publication of the mention of grant of the European Patent in the European Patent Bulletin. To be valid, this request should also be accompanied with a translation of the patent claims in Croatian. This procedure is similar to the procedures in Albania, Latvia, Lithuania and Macedonia, countries recognized as extension states.
Although the extension of the European patents to Croatia will become the most advantageous patent filing procedure, the option of entering the national phase directly before the Croatian IP Office will remain available for any international application for which Croatia has been designated or elected.
For more details on the extension of the European patents to Croatia or the new Croatian Patent Law, please contact us.