Amendments to GI law in preparation

The Serbian Intellectual Property Office has published the text of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Geographical Indications on its website.

The amendments aim to harmonise the current law with Regulation 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs. Under this regulation, EU member states, as well as third countries, can protect geographical indications relating to agricultural and food products at EU level, provided that such designations enjoy protection at the national level and meet the requirements set forth in the regulation.

The proposed amendments also aim to eliminate the terminology issues and deficiencies that have been identified during the implementation of the current law, and thus to ensure a more accurate interpretation and effective implementation of the law.

Further, the amendments to the provisions regulating civil proceedings aim to establish a more efficient system of protection for geographical indications, and to further align Serbian legislation with the IP Rights Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC).

The text of the draft and the explanation of the amendments are available in Serbian and can be downloaded here.

All interested parties can send their comments and suggestions by email to the IPO or to the IPO’s deputy director, Mirela Boskovic.

Jelena Jankovic, PETOŠEVIC, Belgrade