SIPO hosted a Presentation Given by the European Patent Office Delegation

    State Intellectual Property Office hosted a presentation given by the European Patent Office delegation on Monday 11th October 2010, intended for the stakeholders of pharmaceutical industry, attorneys at law and SIPO employees.

Action „Stop Pirates“: Public destruction of pirated or counterfeit CD, DVD and VHS carriers with copyrighted contents

    The organisations of copyright holders of Croatia and within the joint action “Stop Pirates” at the “Jadran Film” location organised on 5th October 2010 in Zagreb a public destruction of over 100 000 of pirated or counterfeit CD, DVD and VHS carriers featuring copyrighted contents. Such destruction of these forgeries was based on approximately 300 final judgments on criminal procedures concerning infringements of copyright and related rights.

High Level Study Visit to SIPO made by the Representatives of Intellectual Property Office of Montenegro

    Within the Cooperation Agreement between the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia (SIPO) and the Intellectual Property Office of Montenegro (IPO MN) on 4th October 2010, the members of a high level study visit to SIPO were: Mr Novak Adžić, director (IPO MN), Mrs Dušanka Perović, assistant director and Mrs Snežana Džuverović, independent adviser for international cooperation.
Having organised this visit SIPO is pursuing its activities of strengthening bilateral and regional cooperation, thus contributing to strengthening the international standing and credibility of the Republic of Croatia.

The Croatian Delegation participated at the 48th series of WIPO sessions (Geneva, 20-29 September 2010)

    At the current series of WIPO sessions a delegation of the Republic of Croatia was represented by the following members: Mr Željko Topić, director general to SIPO, Mr Hrvoje Ćurko, chargé d'affaires to the Standing Mission of the Republic of Croatia in Geneva and Ms Ljiljana Kuterovac, deputy director general to SIPO.
 

Final event and presentation of results of the “strenghtening the enforcement of intellectual property rights” project(EU PHARE 2006 programme)

    The official closure of the PHARE 2006 twinning project “Strengthening the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” have been marked by a formal ceremony, on Friday, 18 June 2010.
Mr. Željko Topić, Director General of the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Keld Nymann Jensen, Deputy Director General of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Paolo Berizzi, Head of the Operations Section - Institutional Building, Finance, Justice, Freedom, Security and Twinning Coordination of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Oliver Grbić, General Police Director of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Kruno Kovačević, Chief Inspector of the State Inspectorate of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Mario Demirović, Assistant Director General of the Customs Administration of the Republic of Croatia and Mr. Kristian Turkalj, Director of the EU and Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia addressed the participants.
Following the same, high ranking officials of the twinning partners, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office and the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia, presented the project results.
 The extent and effects of counterfeiting and piracy are so substantial that they require a strong and long-term action to be taken by the governments, business subjects and the users themselves. Therefore, an effective enforcement of laws, a support by the general public, and a closer cooperation between the sate agencies and industry is imperative in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy.

Bilateral documents on cooperation with third countries

    In accordance with the guidelines and measures as laid down in the National Strategy for the Development of the Intellectual Property System of the Republic of Croatia for the period 2010-2012, the text of which was adopted on 1 April 2010 by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia has concluded bilateral documents on cooperation with the partner national institutions of Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia, desiring to promote further development of cooperation in the field of intellectual property rights, and aiming at improving the appropriate protection of industrial property rights and ensuring the effective use thereof.
The first such document was concluded between SIPO RC and the Industrial Property Office of the Republic of Kosovo, in Priština, on 16 May 2010, and was followed by the cooperation agreements concluded with the Intellectual Property Office of Montenegro in Podgorica, on 20 April 2010, and the State Industrial Property Office of the Republic of Macedonia, in Skopje, on 21 May 2010.



These documents include the exchange of information in the field of intellectual property; exchange of experience related to the accession to the EU; exchange and training of staff, including training through specialization programs; joint activities aiming at the definition and realization of the regional interests in the field of intellectual property (lectures, courses, seminars, conferences, exhibitions); possible mutual assistance in the field of enforcement of industrial property rights; and other issues of mutual interests.
SIPO will continue to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation in the field of intellectual property thus contributing to the strengthening of the international position and credibility of RC.
 

WIPO Regional roundtable on the management of intellectual property rights in the advertising industry

    Having in mind a direct connection of various promotional activities in the advertising industry with the intellectual property rights, particularly copyright and related rights as well as service marks, industrial designs and geographical designations of origin, the World Intellectual Property Organisation in cooperation with the State intellectual property office organised WIPO Regional roundtable on the management of intellectual property rights in the advertising industry in Zagreb, on 18 and 19 May 2010.
This occasion was particularly propitious to gain an insight into the latest developments in this propulsive area, on the grounds of knowledge and experience of the eminent international and Croatian experts.
WIPO expert Mr Dimiter Gantchev and Vladimir Yossifov PhD informed the participants of the role and challenges of the advertising industry in the global creative economy and of identifying intellectual property rights in the advertising industry.
Mr Jurij Žurej, PhD director to the Intellectual property office of the Republic of Slovenia spoke about the current situation of the advertising industry in Croatia and the region. Jelena Radojević LLB of the Intellectual property office of the Republic of Serbia spoke about the protection of copyright and related rights and the relevant case studies.
The participants were also given a lecture by MBA Željko Topić, director general to the Office on developments of the national intellectual property system and the way forward.
Lectures were also delivered by Martin Bader PhD of Saint Gallen University in Switzerland, Mrs Romana Matanovac Vučković, LLB of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, Mladen Vukmir LLM, a member to the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance, Ana Rački Marinković LLM, assistant director general and Mr Kamilo Antolović, a representative of the Trade association for market communication.
In addition to the delivered lectures and presentations, the participants in this roundtable received each an integral printed Manual on the management of intellectual property rights in the advertising industry.
 

A notice on the governmental decision concerning the publication of the Rules relating to fees with regard to the European Patent Convention(EPC) and the Act on the amendments to the Rules relating to fees to the EPC

    Thereby we inform the clients that by virtue of Article 32 to the Law on the conclusion and implementation of international agreements the Government of the Republic of Croatia at its session held on 24 March 2010 adopted a decision to publish the Rules relating to fees with regard to the EPC and the Act on the amendments to the Rules relating to fees to the EPC
This decision was published in Narodne novine-Međunarodni ugovori/Official Gazette-International Agreements No 3/2010 of 21 May 2010.
 

WIPO Seminar on the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs

    A Seminar on the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) shall be held on 9 June 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland.
More details are available at the WIPO web site:
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=20204
 

Exhibition displayed by the Association for Industrial Design opened in the Centre for Design

    The Centre for Design at the Croatian chamber of economy, Zagreb organised an exhibition on 4 May 2010 and presented a brochure of the Association for Industrial Design.





A survey of designers' works who are members to the above Association and the positive cooperation of designers with the business entities are covered by this exhibition and the mentioned publication.
The State intellectual property office (SIPO) was invited to this exhibition and presented a brochure „Looking good“ at the opening ceremony. This brochure is a manual published by SIPO for the purpose of awareness rising of small and medium businesses and professional community with the characteristics of industrial designs, their protection and benefits for business operations.
The brochures „Looking good“, are available to the visitors of this exhibition, which is open until 11 June 2010 in the premises of the Centre for Design, Draškovićeva 45, Zagreb.
 

Delegates of the regional TAIEX conference on a visit to the Office

In the framework of the regional TAIEX conference on the connection of crime with intellectual property, entitled: Public health and organised crime, organised by the European Commission was held on 29 April 2010. The Office was visited by a group of 15 participants in this conference from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania and Turkey - the representatives of institutions competent for intellectual property and infringements of intellectual property rights.
M.sc. Ljiljana Kuterovac, deputy director general informed the participants about the National system for the implementation of intellectual property rights, and Mr Michael Poulsen, senior adviser of the Danish patent and trademark office, about the PHARE project: Strengthening the implementation of intellectual property rights, in the framework of which the implementing system was developed.
The guests also visited the information centre of the Office INCENTIV, where they were informed about the activities of the centre by which the general public is informed and becomes aware of the infringements of intellectual property rights, what is achieved by implementing the protection of intellectual property rights and why it is so important.
 

World Intellectual Property Day 26 April 2010

    On the occasion of celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day, the State intellectual property office (SIPO) is inviting general public to visit our information centre INCENTIV, where they can get customary services, i.e. professional information on the protection and use of intellectual property rights and data base searches on industrial property; moreover they can find information on the implementation of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Croatia and learn about the infringements of intellectual property rights and their impact on the general public.
On the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day several promotional videos of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) were broadcasted, as well as an anti-piracy video:”Piracy is criminal”, prepared in cooperation with the State intellectual property office and a branch office and a regional representation of the APAW and BSA organisations.
The Office in cooperation with the editorial board of the newspaper “Novi list” published on 26 April 2010 an informative and instructive separate on the protection and implementation of intellectual property rights.
 

The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee for the implementation of intellectual property rights

    The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee for the implementation of intellectual property rights (hereinafter CCII) was held on 14 April 2010 in the premises of the State intellectual property office.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of the State intellectual property office, the State attorney's office of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of agriculture, fishery and rural development, the State inspectorate, the Customs administration, Central office, the Croatian food agency, and the Agency for medicines and medicinal products.
Ms Ljiljana Kuterovac, deputy director general to SIPO and chairwoman to CCII, at this meeting emphasised the importance to protect and effectively implement intellectual property rights. She pointed out global increase in counterfeit goods worldwide (medicinal products, vehicle spare parts and similar) and the significance to protect public interests primarily reflecting in public health protection and security of citizens, but also in hampering the negative effects on the entire economy.
The technical aid project of the EU PHARE 2006 “Strengthening the implementation of intellectual property rights”, which is in progress, is precisely dedicated mostly to the enhancement of cooperation and coordination of operations by the competent bodies for the implementation of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Croatia. Consequently, a permanent mechanism shall be established for coordinating operations and activities for the implementation of intellectual property rights active on several levels, and as set by the National strategy for the development of intellectual property system of the Republic of Croatia for the period from 2010-2012 – Action plan for the period from 2010-2012.
A comprehensive cooperation model for the implementation of intellectual property rights was presented at this meeting, the composition, scope and method of operation of the coordinating committees. The recommendations were provided for conventions of constitutive meetings of the joint operative groups for the implementation of intellectual property rights, groups to cooperate with intellectual property right holders, and two working groups responsible for the issues of implementing intellectual property rights.
 

The first Trade Policy Review of the Republic of Croatia presented at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)

    The first Trade Policy Review (TRP) of the Republic of Croatia was presented at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on 24 and 26 March 2010. Head of the Croatian delegation was Mr Đuro Popijač, minister of economy accompanied by Mrs Nataša Vujec, state secretary to the Ministry of the Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, and as a representative of the SIPO Ms Ljiljana Kuterovac deputy director general.
Namely, the Republic of Croatia as a member country to WTO has commitments to examine its trade related policies at regular intervals. The trade related control mechanism enables the examination and evaluation of the member countries’ trade and related policies at regular intervals and their impact on the global trading system, and provides detailed report of the national trade policy of each country member to WTO.
The Trade Policy Review also includes the field of intellectual property (Chapter: Trade policy, the measures and practice). The Office in cooperation with the Ministry of the Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, as a proponent of the report, actively participated in preparing the texts on intellectual property.
The Trade Policy of the Republic of Croatia was of interest to a large number of the most significant economic countries (such as the USA, the European Union, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Korea, Japan). The majority of statements by the WTO members acknowledged that important progress has taken place since Croatia acceded to the WTO in 2000 and emphasized that Croatia has a developed and open market economy well integrated in the international economic system.
The intellectual property field was mentioned in the statements by the EU, the USA and the conclusions by the chairperson, H.E. the Ambassador to Hungary Istvan Major, that in addition to the acknowledged development in Croatia so far, the continuation of strengthening of its administrative capacity in the field of intellectual property is an impetus.
For more information on TPR-Croatia please visit the WTO web page:
(http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp327_e.htm)
 

WIPO-Croatia Summer School on Intellectual Property in Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 31 to June 11, 2010

    The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is organizing two-week Summer School on Intellectual Property (Summer School), jointly with the State Intellectual Property Organization (SIPO), Croatia, and the University of Dubrovnik from May 31 to June 11, 2010.
The Summer School offers an invaluable education program in the whole area of intellectual property (IP). Thirty places will be made available for senior students (graduate and postgraduate students) and young professionals from any field of study or discipline.
You may register for the 2010 WIPO-Croatia Summer School on IP from January 26 to March 31, 2010.
More about Summer School...
 

Croatian higher officials of intellectual property rights implementation authorities on a study visit to the peer Danish institutions, Copenhagen, 6-8 September, 2009

   

The Croatian state administration in cooperation with the Danish state administration has been currently implementing a twinning project, financed by the EU, called: “Strengthening the implementation of intellectual property rights“, with the objective to further develop the system of intellectual property implementation in Croatia.
One of the significant objectives to this project is the establishment of an effective cooperation and coordination mechanism between the Croatian authorities competent for the implementation of intellectual property rights. Such an objective requires the integration of appropriate high level administration authorities of the relevant Croatian institutions.
Consequently, within the limits of the project implementation, a study visit was organised to Denmark of the Croatian officials at the high level of administration, which will be followed by a return visit to Croatia by the Danish peers. The purpose of such visits is primarily to provide the Croatian part with an insight to inter-institutional cooperation in Denmark, and give the opportunity to exchange experience with the Danish peers at the appropriate level of administration.
The delegates of the Croatian delegation were: Mrs. Marina Dujmović-Vučković, state secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dragan Novosel, deputy to the State attorney general, Mr. Božo Barbarić, head of the National police office for preventing corruption and organised crime, Mr. Krešimir Sikavica, head of Department for economic crimes and corruption, Mr. Andrej Franulović, assistant director to Customs administration, Mr. Ninoslav Babić, Department for intellectual property protection, Mrs. Božena Vrbanić, deputy to Inspector general, Mrs. Ljiljana Kuterovac, deputy to general director of the State Intellectual Property Office and Mrs. Katja Šare, secretary to General director’s office.
In the course of this visit a programme was organised to present the Danish patent and trademark office, as well as the Danish model of inter-institutional cooperation concerning the implementation of intellectual property rights. In the second part of the programme bilateral meetings were organised between the peer Croatian and Danish partners, and the visits to relevant Danish institutions.

Workshop on copyright systems of countries in transition

    World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in cooperation with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) organised an Inter-Regional Workshop on Reviewing the Studies on the Special Features of the Copyright Systems of Countries in Transition on 7 May 2009.
The participants were the experts on copyrights from 16 countries: Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Hungary, Montenegro, Rumania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and Croatia.
The workshop is a final part of the project initiated by WIPO for the purpose of preparing a study on alignment of copyright in countries in transition to new technologies, with a focus on the implementation and application of “Internet Treaties” – the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty.
Leading experts engaged on the project implementation are Mr Mihály Ficsor, Chairman, Central and Eastern European Copyright Alliance (CEECA) and Mr Ivan Bliznets, Rector, Russian State Institute of Intellectual Property (RGIIS).
The objective of the project is to contribute to the problem solution concerning the application of copyright and related rights in the digital environment and on the Internet, which is one of the most important issues in the field of copyright, and to review the experience obtained in the transformation of the copyright system of the countries in transition to market economy. The experience of the countries that have gone through the transition period, or at least, are close to its end, are of important for the modernisation of the copyright systems of certain European and Central Asian countries, where the transition process in certain aspects has not been completed yet.
A one-day workshop in Zagreb was an opportunity for the copyright experts of the concerned countries in transition to share experiences on addressing certain problems and issues on the copyright and related rights.
 

The exhibition «Creativity and Innovation» opened at the Centre for Design of the Croatian Chamber of Economy (CCE), Zagreb (5 May - 2 June 2009)

    The exhibition «Creativity and Innovation» organised by the Centre for Design of the Croatian Chamber of Economy in Zagreb, was opened on 5 May 2009.
The exhibition covers a survey of items awarded “Zlatna kuna” by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, during the past 12 years, to inventors and institutions for their innovative works.
Furthermore, at the exhibition some inventions applied by industry and certain creative projects are displayed, which had been awarded global designer prizes.
The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), upon invitation of the organiser, is taking part at this exhibition with a series of various activities. For the purpose of this exhibition SIPO has designed four posters featuring photos representing selected samples of the registered industrial designs by the Croatian designers, thereby contributing to the public awareness of the Croatian designers’ work.
Furthermore, information leaflets and professional publications of SIPO related to industrial designs and other intellectual property rights are available to visitors of the exhibition.
During this exhibition at the Centre for Design, SIPO representatives are going to give lecture on industrial design protection.
The lecture: “Why Protect Industrial Designs?” will explain differences in the scope and kind of industrial design protection: under copyright, industrial designs registration and other forms of industrial designs protection.
The lecture: “Why protect industrial designs?” will point out the advantages and disadvantages of protecting industrial designs under copyright, and the importance of industrial designs registration.
Industrial designs protection, besides feasible prevention of unauthorised use of their designs, is providing to designers and companies dealing with designs and products creation, a possibility of return of investments made in designs development and a stimulus for further investments.
The mentioned lectures will be held by Ms. Andrea Kordić, expert for industrial designs protection at SIPO and expert witness for designs and interiors, and Mrs. Tajana Tomić, M.Sc., expert for copyright and related rights, head to the Copyright and related rights sector at SIPO.
The lectures will be given on 14 May 2009 at 12:00 h (Thursday) on the I. floor of the lecture hall to the Centre for Design, Draškovićeva 54, Zagreb.
 

The Office celebrated the World Intellectual Property Day 26 April

    The State Intellectual Property Office, as every year, has also this year joined in celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day 26 April, by a series of relevant actvities. On this occasion a promotional day was organised at INCENTIV, Ulica grada Vukovara 78, Zagreb.
This year the focus was on the contribution of a balanced intellectual property system to stimulating the creation, diffusion and application of clean technologies; to promoting green design, aimed at creating products that are eco-friendly for use and to green branding, helping consumers make informed choices and giving companies a competitive edge.
On the promotional day, named:”Green products day” visitors to INCENTIV were provided, besides the usual information offer, with a variety of additional information on intellectual property, and appropriate spots might be watched on a video screen.
On that day visitors were offered a free of charge search service of their choice in the field of exploitation of alternative sources of energy, green design and green brading.
Another event was organised on that day for the convened domestic experts in the sphere of intellectual property, namely the Office in cooperation with the US Embassy in Zagreb organised a lecture by Mr Timothy Trainer concerning intellectual property enforcement and strengthening of public awareness as to its importance, particularly in view of the actual global economic situation.
Mr Trainer is president to the Global Intellectual Property Strategy Center, an eminent expert and publicist in the sphere of intellectual property, a former counsel at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the founder and former president to the AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC).

Croatian Intellectual Property Gazette Online Only

    The April issue (No 4/2009) is the final printed issue of the Croatian Intellectual Property Gazette (the Gazette) as the official publication of the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia (SIPO).
Starting from No 5/2009 the Gazette shall be published in the electronic format (PDF format) only, and will be furthermore available online offering free of charge access at the official Internet address of SIPO (www.dziv.hr).
Another facility introduced by SIPO is the installation of the Gazette archive starting from No 5/2009 at the mentioned web site, and every issue will be full text searchable by default terms.
SIPO will go on delivering electronic issues of the Gazette on digital medium (CD-ROM) to interested users, subject to ordering and paying of the prescribed fees.
 

Ukrainian Delegation on a Visit Within the Cooperation With the European Patent Organisation

Ukrainian Delegation was on an official visit to the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia on 7 April 2009, namely: Mr. Dmytro Tabachnyk, member of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and first deputy to the president of Science and Education Committee, Mr. Mykola Paladii, president to the State Intellectual Property Office of Ukraine, and Mrs. Olena Shcherbakova, head to the Department for European Integrations and International Cooperation.
The Croatian delegation at the meeting was represented by: Mr. Nenad Stazić, MP, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Information, Computerisation and the Media, Mr. Željko Topić, director general to the Office, Mrs. Ljiljana Kuterovac, deputy to director general, Mrs. Romana Matanovac Vučković, chairman to the Board of Appeals at the Office, and Mrs. Vera Tadić of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations. Mr. Pascal Phlix, a representative of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) - Directorate General, Legal/International Affairs - in charge of cooperation with the future member states, took part at the meeting as well.
This visit was initiated within the bilateral cooperation between the European Patent Organisation (EPO) and Ukraine. Namely, the European Patent Organisation, supporting the initiative by the European Union “the Eastern Partnership”, drafted an Action Plan for each country individually concerned by this initiative, with a focus on intellectual property area, for the purpose of their progressive integration to the economy of the EU. Croatia, as one of the new members states to the EPO (as of 1 January 2008), distinguished by a quality pre-accession preparations for the membership to the EPO end EU, was invited to actively involve with the implementation of this Action Plan.
At the meeting both parties expressed their satisfaction with the commencement of cooperation between the two countries in the area of intellectual property. The main topic of the meeting, pursuant to the interest expressed by the Ukrainian Delegation, was a communication of the Croatian experience acquired in the pre-accession period, namely from the Cooperation and Extension Agreement to full membership to the European Patent Organisation. The Croatian party presented the effects and benefits of the accession, having elaborated technical aspects of cooperation with the EPO as well.
The conclusion of a bilateral cooperation agreement between Intellectual Property Offices of the two countries was initiated. The Ukrainian Delegation extended an invitation to Mr. Željko Topić, director general to the Office, to present the Croatian experience at the international conference on intellectual property, to be organised by the Ukrainian Office on Yalta in September 2009.
 

The Conference of  ALAI ( Asociation Littéraire et Artistique  Internationale ),  Dubrovnik, Croatia   06 - 08/10/2008

    ALAI Croatia, the Croatian Copyright Society, a non-profit association of experts and all other people involved in the development of copyright science, the exercise and protection of copyright and related rights in practice, and in enhancing awareness of such rights, has organised this Conference in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb, the law school with the longest tradition in this part of Europe, and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), the government agency responsible for copyright matters.

The Amendments to the Administrative Fees Act in the Sphere of Intellectual Property and to the Regulation on Fees for the Services Provided by the Office

    The applicants in the proceedings for the protection of industrial property and the beneficiaries of the services provided by the Office as well as any interested person, are hereby notified that certain amendments to the Administrative fees act in the sphere of intellectual property and to the Regulation on fees for the services provided by the Office occurred last June.
The mentioned amendments shall apply subject to coming into force of the Administrative Fees Act in the Sphere of Intellectual Property (OG 62/2008 of 30 May 2008) and to the Regulation on Fees for the Services Provided by the State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia (OG 70/2008 of 18 July 2008).
These amendments refer to establishing the relevant administrative fees and fees for the newly initiated institutions, primarily the appeal institution, hence terminological alignment with the amendments to the ordinances in the sphere of intellectual property of the year 2007, as well as the required corrections to certain fees subject to the increase in the costs of providing professional services and the incurred changes in the quality and structure of the information services provided by the Office.

Peer Assessment Mission from EU Member States Visits Croatia

    The experts from the EU Member States - Great Britain, France, Slovakia and Belgium – visited the competent Croatian authorities responsible for negotiations on the Chapter 7 concerning intellectual property law on a peer assessment mission in view of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union (Chapter 7: Intellectual Property Law).
During a three-day visit from 7 to 9 April 2008, the meetings were held at the State Intellectual Property Office, State Inspectorate, Customs Administration, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, High Commercial Court and Croatian Competition Agency. A joint meeting was held with the representatives of organizations for the collective management of rights, and individually with the delegates of the representatives in the field of intellectual property, as well as with the representatives from the business sector.
The experts had gained insight into the national intellectual property system of the Republic of Croatia and the functioning thereof, interinstitutional cooperation and judicial system. The report of experts and their recommendation shall be communicated to the Croatian party before mid - May 2008, at the latest.
To some degree the report of experts is expected to have an impact upon the course for the closure of the chapter on intellectual property.

Meeting on Cooperation Between the SIPO and the Agency for Medicines and Medicinal Products

    Following the signature of the Protocol on Cooperation Between the State Intellectual Property Office and the Agency for Medicines and Medicinal Products in February 2007, a meeting was held between directors of both institutions with the delegations of the relevant experts. On behalf of the Agency at the meeting were present director and assistant professor, Siniša Tomić, PhD, Ms. Andreja Smolčić, LLB and Mr. Hrvoje Bilušić, mr. Pharm.
The meeting was held for the purpose of further development of the operational cooperation concerning the related issues in the field of intellectual property protection, of the one part, and in the field of market authorization for the medicines and medicinal products, of the other part. The experts of the Agency presented to the experts of the Office the details and the specific features of the proceedings conducted by the Agency, and informed them about related European and worldwide practice in this field. The areas of interest for the future cooperation of both institutions were discussed and specified, and a return visit by the experts of the Office to the Agency was arranged.

Delegation of the French National Institute for Industrial Property Visited SIPO

    Mr. Benoît Battiselli, the director general to the French National Institute for Industrial Property and Mr. Jean-Baptiste Mozzicionacci, director for international cooperation were on an official visit to the State Intellectual Property Office from 3 to 4 April 2008.
The representatives of the Office for Economic Affairs at the French Embassy in Croatia also presented the bilateral meetings. Bilateral cooperation issues between the two Offices were discussed, as well as issues on cooperation within multilateral organizations (WIPO and EPO), and the issue of the European patents in the light of the coming French Presidency of the Union. Following the exchange and coordination of views concerning the proposed scope of cooperation, a bilateral agreement between both Offices was signed.

    Croatia as a full member of the European patent office (EPO) hosted president of EPO Ms Alison Brimelow and in this occasion inaugurated Information centre for intellectual property.

More from EPO website...                        Press release

The Published Ordinances (Regulations) in the Field of Industrial Property

    The amendments to the Acts in the field of intellectual property having entered into force on 1 August 2007 (with the exception of the provisions ensuing from the full membership to the EU, and the provisions relating to the institution of the appeal procedure, that shall enter into force on 1 June 2008), the drafting of the respective ordinances was tackled.
Therefore, the Minister responsible for the operation of the State Intellectual Property Office has adopted:
-  The Patent Ordinance
-  The Trademark Ordinance
-  The Ordinance on the Amendments to Industrial Design Ordinance
-  The Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin of Products and Services
- The Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor Products
The ordinances were published in OG No. 117 of 14 November 2007 and entered into force on the day of the publishing thereof, with the exception of The Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin of Products and Services and The Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor Products, with effect from 1 June 2008.

The Regulations in the field of Intellectual Property

Amendments to the Acts in the Field of Intellectual Property

    Following the accession of Croatia to the European Union and the accompanying alignment with the acquis communautaire, early August 2007 entered into force the further amendments to the acts in the field of intellectual property – The Patent Act, The Trademark Act, The Industrial Design Act, The Act on Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin of Products and Services, The Act on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor Products and The Copyright and Related Rights Act.
The latest legislative amendments in Croatia in the field of intellectual property within the responsibility of the Office shall entirely be in line with the acquis, primarily related to the EU provisions that entered into force following the year 2003, in which were adopted until now applicable acts in the field of intellectual property, at that time at a high level of harmonisation with the acquis communautaire in force.
The latest amendments shall also institute the right to appeal against the first instance decisions of the Office, thus achieving greater transparency and legal safety in taking decisions under the administrative proceedings for the grant of industrial property rights implemented by the Office, as well as the control of first instance decisions.
Apart from the abovementioned, the found errors have been corrected by these amendments and the existing provisions of these acts explained in addition.
Hereafter the State Intellectual Property Office is publishing the texts of the amendments to the acts in the field of intellectual property, issued in Official Gazette No. 76 of 23 July 2007 and No. 79 of 30 July 2007.

Amendments to the Acts in the Field of Intellectual Property

     At the press-conference held on 20th November 2007, Željko Topić, Director General of SIPO presented a Study «Economic Contribution of Copyright-Based Industries to the Economy of the Republic of Croatia» made by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in cooperation with the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) with the technical assistance of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and following the methodology developed by WIPO.

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Seminar on the intellectual property rights (IPR) - Protection of software

     On 31st October 2007, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to Berlin has deposited with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, as the host country of the European Patent Organization, the following instruments of ratification concerning the Republic of Croatia’s accession to the European Patent Convention:
- the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention),
- the text as amended by the Act Revising Article 63 EPC,
- the Agreement on the Application of Article 65 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents
Thus the Convention shall enter into force on 1st January 2008. The deposit of the instruments of ratification will be published in the Official Gazette, Treaties pursuant to Article 30 paragraph 3 of the Act on Conclusion and Execution of Treaties.

Changes in the list of authorised representatives in proceedings before the Office

Upon expiry of the deadline stipulated under transitional and final provisions of the Law on Representation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (Official Gazette 54/2005) the layout of the list of authorised representatives published in the Journal has been changed. Namely, pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Representation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights, instead of the earlier single list of intellectual property representatives, the Office will in the future publish two separate lists: patent representatives, authorised for representation in proceedings for granting patents and trademark representatives, authorised to represent in proceedings of registrations for trademarks, industrial designs, geographic indications of origin of products and services as well as topographies of semiconductor products.

Signed Letter of Intent on cooperation of the Office in providing regional trademark search information services

Director of the Office Mr. Željko Topić has signed in Munich end June a Letter of Intent between several national Intellectual Property Offices in Central and East Europe on cooperation in providing regional trademark search information services. The cooperation aims at ensuring quality of the regional trademark search information service, which the Western Europe countries have demonstrated extensive interest for with respect to the entry on the market of, so called new or future EU Member States. In view of the Office strategic orientation towards strengthening information services aimed at furthering the support to domestic economy, the Office has joined said initiative. The first among said regional services is scheduled for autumn 2007.

Sculpture «Tesla» to the Office for its contribution to the INOVA 2006 exhibition of innovations in Rijeka

The implementation committee of the INOVA 2006 exhibition of innovations held in Rijeka awarded the sculpture «Tesla» to the Office for its contribution to the organisation of said exhibition in the Year of Nikola Tesla. The Office has been cooperating for a number of years with the innovatory community in Rijeka in promoting protection of intellectual property.
The sculpture was handed over on behalf of the implementation committee and the City of Rijeka by Mr. Luciano Sušanj, member of the City Government at a ceremony held in Rijeka attended also by prof. Veljko Karabaić, Head of the City Government Section for sports and technical culture, Mr Kazimir Mihić, Chairman of the implementation committee of INOVA 2006 and longstanding coordinator of the exhibition, and other members of the implementation committee. On behalf of the Office the sculpture was accepted by Assistant Director General Ms. Ljiljana Kuterovac.
On that occasion further cooperation programmes in the field of innovative activities in Rijeka were discussed with a focus on the exceptional activity by the innovation community in the region as well as the significant support of the local government to its work.

Protocol on cooperation between the State Intellectual Property Office and the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices

Cooperation of the SIPO on the Project Intellectual Property for Innovations (ip4inno) under the European Community Sixth Framework Program for Research and Innovation

Amendments to the price list of collective societies for copyright and related rights

Collective societies for copyright and related rights

– Croatian Composers' Association (cro.HDS), Croatian Association for protection of performing rights (cro. HUZIP) and Association for protection, collection and allocation of phonogram rights (cro.ZAPRAF) – reached an agreement with the Croatian Chamber of Crafts regarding draft amendments to the Rulebooks on compensations for public performing and communicating musical works to the public and on compensations for the use of musical performance materials for authors, performers and phonogram producers. Said Rulebooks were forwarded for opinion to the Croatian Chamber of Economy which failed to issue an opinion within 30 days, which pursuant to Article 162 Item 4 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (Official Gazette no.167/03) means that said Chamber is not opposed to the draft amendments to said Rulebooks.

Pursuant to Article 162 Item 8 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights the State Intellectual Property Office will publish the amendments to the Rulebooks on compensations for public performing and communicating musical works to the public and on compensations for the use of musical performance materials for authors, performers and phonogram producers in its Official Gazette nr. 1/2007.

National forum on accession to the European Union – Intellectual property in light of accession to the European Union

In the framework of monitoring the process of accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MoFAEI) organises public debates through the work of the National forum on accession to the European Union.

As one of the next topics in cooperation with the State Intellectual Property Office a debate is planned on intellectual property in the context of accession to the European Union to be held in Zagreb on 6 December 2006. The National Forum aims at better informing the Croatian public on the accession process and transposing the national debate to the local level. The meetings of the Forum are upon invitation, and for better inclusion the interested general public can forward any comments to the e-mail nacionalni.forum@mei.hr. This time too, state administration representatives, experts of the academic community, institutes, NGOs and all interested parties are expected to take part so as to contribute to a higher quality of debate on the matter.

Interested parties can obtain additional information on the Forum from the Department for the National forum on EU accession of the MoFAEI (http://www.mvpei.hr/).

Completion of renovation works in the Office premises

By mid October renovation construction works that lasted for several months have been completed and we take the opportunity to once again apologise for possible inconveniences these works might have caused to our clients. With the completion of construction works, health and hygiene conditions for employees of the Office have been considerably upgraded, and additional space to accommodate the necessary number of employees has also been ensured. A meeting room has been renovated and the Office of the Director General has been moved aiming at rationalising the use of existing premises.

We hope that this renovation will contribute to raise the level of quality of work with the Office clients.

The 7th meeting of the Cooperation Committee of the CARDS 2002 Regional Project – Industrial and intellectual property rights has been held

The Delegation of the Macedonian Ministry of Culture visited the Office

At the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, on 12 and 13 June 2006 the Delegation of the Ministry paid a visit to the State intellectual property Office of the Republic of Croatia and collective management associations for copyright and related rights in Croatia. The activities in the area of copyright and related rights under the competence of the Office in the Republic of Macedonia are under the competence of the Ministry of Culture, so during the visit experiences pertaining to aforesaid area have been exchanged between the two countries. During the visit the Macedonian Delegation also met representatives of collective management associations for copyright and related rights.

Due to the works performed on the SIPO’s server, this web site was not available from July 11 to 13, 2006. It is back to function but is having problems viewing search results of the published industrial property. The problem comprises presentation of the Croatian characters. Its solution is underway. We are apologizing for the inconvenience. Thank you for your kind understanding.

Line Minister of Science, Education and Sports passed the Rulebook on professional exams for authorised counsels in the area of industrial property rights (Official Gazette 24/06), and the Rulebook on fees for participation in the work of the Council of experts (Official Gazette 24/06).

The Government of the RC at its session held on 10 March 2006 passed a Decision on initiating the procedure to sign the Revised Agreement on the right to trademark.

M.S. Željko Topić, Head of the Institute, attended the Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the Revised Agreement on the right to trademark held in Singapore from 13 to 31 March and on behalf of the Government of the RC signed the Revised Agreement adopted at the Conference.

National Strategy of the Developmentof the IP system in Croatia published in English

National CARDS Copyright and Related Rights Seminar took place in Zagreb od 4 July 2005.

On 7 July 2005, the State Intellectual Property Office marked the 110th Anniversary of the Patent Act in Croatia by a series of events: