Law Enacted on Requirements For Industrial Property Representatives in Croatia

By Anamarija Stančić Petrovic, SD PETOSEVIC Croatia-Zagreb, Published in BNA, June 2005
The Croatian parliament enacted legislation on April 14 regulating the requirements for representatives in the field of industrial property (Official Gazette No. 54/2005). The Law will enter into force as of August 1.

One main feature of the final proposal concerns eligibility to be a patent representative; the requirements were “softened” compared to the previous draft to include persons without a technical/scientific university degree and lawyers registered before the Croatian Bar Association.

Another important modification is that a law office/firm or company registered for IP representation need not employ patent/trademark representatives or lawyers who have passed a relevant exam; however, they “can cooperate with such persons based on a contractual relationship other than employment”.

Requirements For Patent and Trademark Representatives

ln order to become a patent representative in Croatia, an applicant must be one of the following:

a) a Croatian citizen who resides in Croatia and holds a degree in science and/or engineering and has passed the qualifying exam for patent representative before the Croatian PTO;

b) a Croatian citizen who resides in Croatia and holds a degree other than science and/or engineering but who also has a minimum of five years of relevant IP experience and has passed the qualifying exam for patent representative before the Croatian PTO;

c) 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 that employs such a lawyer or cooperates with him or her based on a contractual relationship other than employment; or

d) a legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set out in the first two examples above or co-operates with him or her based on a contractual relationship other than employment.

In order to become a trademark representative in Croatia, an applicant must be one of the following:

• a Croatian citizen who resides in Croatia and holds a university degree and has passed the qualifying exam for trademark representative before the Croatian PTO;

• a lawyer who is registered before the Croatian Bar Association or a law firm employing such a lawyer or co-operates with him or her based on a contractual relationship other than employment; or

e) a legal entity with the legal seat in Croatia and employing at least one person who meets the requirements set out in the first example above or co-operates with him or her based on a contractual relationship other than employment.

The new Law also regulates professional examinations for representatives, requirements to register as certified pat¬ent/trademark representatives, the Register of patent/trade¬mark representatives, and the Chamber of representatives in the field of intellectual property.

Finally, the Law stipulates a transition period of two years from enactment, 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 enactment of the law and the date of its applicability, but must pass the required exams within two years of enactment of the law.