Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia
Ministry of the Interior (police) collects information related to the infringement of the intellectual property rights and if there is a reasonable doubt of a criminal offence subject to public prosecution, corresponding measures and procedures shall be undertaken (necessary information is collected from natural and legal persons and documentation and other material evidence; urgent investigative actions can be undertaken as well, such as a search of a suspect’s apartment or search of a computer, etc.). In case of a reasonable doubt of a criminal act being committed against intellectual property, criminal charges shall be filed with the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb.
State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia
State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia is authorised to persecute perpetrators of criminal offences subject to public prosecution. The State Attorney’s Office undertakes necessary actions in order to disclose criminal offences and to find a perpetrator, receives criminal charges, examines their contents and collects additional necessary information; it passes a decision on criminal charges after a procedure has been completed. Furthermore, the State Attorney’s Office files and represents indictments before competent courts. In cases of criminal law protection of intellectual property rights, substantive and territorial jurisdiction falls under the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb.
Ministry of Finance
As of 1 January 2014, the tasks under the responsibility of the State Inspectorate referring to the enforcement of intellectual property rights, in compliance with the Act on Amendments to the Act on Organization and Scope of Work of Ministries and Other Central State Administration Bodies (Official Gazette No 148/13), were assumed by the Ministry of Finance. In compliance herewith, the Ministry of Finance monitors the implementation of the provisions in the field of intellectual property in the market, by conducting inspection ex officio and on the basis of reports filed by natural and legal persons. Inspectors are authorised to temporarily seize the objects, should they establish it is a matter of goods infringing intellectual property rights; in the event of suspected infringement they can exclude a sample of disputed products and send them to a competent institution for examination. If a reasonable doubt is established that the infringement of intellectual property regulations poses a misdemeanour, a proposal for initiating a misdemeanour procedure shall be submitted with the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Zagreb, i.e. criminal charges shall be filed, if there is a reasonable doubt of a criminal offence committed.
Customs Administration
Customs measures for the enforcement of intellectual property rights are initiated ex officio or on the basis of requests by rights holders. They are enforced in compliance with the Regulation (EU) No. 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 concerning customs enforcement of intellectual property rights, with the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1352/2013 of 4 December 2013 establishing the forms provided for in Regulation No. 608/2013 and the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/582 of 12 April 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1352/2013 establishing the forms provided for in Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning customs enforcement of intellectual property rights, with the Act on the Enforcement of Customs Regulations of the European Union (NN 40/2016), and other relevant regulations. Aforementioned measures include the verification and temporary seizure of goods suspected to be infringing certain intellectual property rights until the procedure has been completed and supervision over destruction of goods for which the prescribed procedure is found to infringe the intellectual property rights. In the enforcement of appropriate measures, Customs Administration cooperates with other state institutions competent for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, in particular with the Ministry of the Interior.
Courts
(I) Jurisdiction in civil law proceedings
The enforcement of civil law protection of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Croatia lies within the competence of four commercial courts in first instance, with headquarters in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek.
Settlements in second instance lie within competence of the High Commercial Court.
(II) Jurisdiction in criminal proceedings
Criminal procedures for criminal offences legally characterised as infringement of intellectual property rights are conducted in first instance by the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb having substantive and territorial jurisdiction.
Settlements in second instance lie within competence of the county courts.
(III) Jurisdiction in misdemeanour proceedings
Misdemeanour law protection of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Croatia is carried out in first instance by the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Zagreb.
Settlements in second instance lie within competence of the High Misdemeanour Court.
(IV) Court control of administrative acts legality concerning granting/registration of industrial property rights
The decisions made by the State Intellectual Property Office in the procedures for granting /registration of industrial property rights or other procedures for the validity of rights can be disputed by a party whose requests were not met entirely or partly, by filing a suit to the Administrative Court in Zagreb.
The appeals against rulings of the Administrative Court in Zagreb shall be settled by the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia.