- European
Starting from the 9th century, some Slavic people who migrated to the Balkan Peninsula began to establish countries such as Serbia. After World War I, Serbia joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, Serbia became one of the six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1992, Serbia and Montenegro formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006, after Montenegro declared independence, the Republic of Serbia declared its succession to Serbia and Montenegro's status as subjects of international law.
2. The current trademark regulations in Serbia are mainly based on the revised and effective Trademark Law on February 1, 2020, which introduced an opposition system. Serbian trademarks are managed by the Serbian Intellectual Property Office and the official language is Serbian.
3. The Serbian trademark adopts the Nice classification and accepts multiple types of applications. The elements that can be registered as trademarks include: text, slogan, letters, numbers, graphics, color combinations, three-dimensional logos, sound, etc.
Serbia is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention, Nice Agreement, Vienna Agreement, Nairobi Treaty, and is also a member of the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration in Serbia can be processed through "single country registration" or "Madrid international registration".
The validity period after registration is 10 years, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months (with additional fees) and a validity period of 10 years.
1. Applicant's name and address
2. Goods or services
3. Trademark design
4. Power of Attorney
5. To submit priority, proof of priority must be provided
Submit a trademark application to the Industrial Property Office. If the application contains all the basic elements, the competent authority will input the information in the application into the trademark registration book, update it every 24 hours, and specify the application number.
The date of entering the trademark registration book is also the date of obtaining trademark priority from the application. If certain documents are missing in the application, they can be corrected.
From the moment the application is entered into the electronic register, the applicant may provide proof to the competent authority that they have submitted a trademark grant application, upon payment of appropriate fees.
Formal review requires examining whether the following information is present: appropriate markings attached, appropriate colors listed, appropriately classified goods/services, etc. If there are deficiencies, the competent authority shall request the applicant to make corrections within the prescribed time limit in the examination results.
If the applicant fails to correct the application as recommended by the competent authority within the prescribed time limit, the application shall be rejected. If the applicant corrects the application in the manner recommended by the competent authority within the prescribed time limit, the competent authority shall conduct substantive examination of the application.
Review whether there are prohibited applications under the Trademark Law and examine the similarity of trademarks.
If the competent authority determines that the mark does not meet the conditions for trademark protection for some reason, it shall send the information on these reasons in writing to the applicant in the form of examination results and give the applicant a reasonable deadline for response.
The applicant shall provide comments on the examination results within the deadline. If the applicant is unable to provide comments within the deadline, they shall apply for an extension of the deadline after paying the relevant fees.
If there is no reason to reject the application, the data of the application will be published twice a month in the Intellectual Property Bulletin (the published data includes: application number, application date, applicant data, logo image, and list of goods or services referred to by the logo).
From the date of publication of the application, a period of three months shall be counted, during which the prior rights holder may raise objections.
After the expiration of three months, if no objection is raised, or if the objection is rejected or the final ruling is rejected, the competent authority shall notify the applicant to pay the prescribed trademark registration fee. Register a trademark within a certain period of time and provide proof of payment.
If the applicant fails to act in accordance with the requirements of the competent authority as stipulated in the examination results, or if he acts in accordance with the requirements but the competent authority still considers that the trademark as a whole and specific goods and services cannot be registered, the application shall be rejected in whole or in part.
The trademark application and registration process in Serbia usually takes 6 months. If the application does not comply with the relevant procedures, it may last for more than 6 months.
