New Administrative Instruction on Trademark Registration Procedures Enters into Force in Kosovo

The new Administrative Instruction (AI) on Trademark Registration Procedures No. 08/2023, which entered into force in Kosovo on August 14, 2023, addresses the most important changes brought by the new Law on Trademarks, in force as of July 2022.

Besides elaborating the novelties introduced by the new trademark law and clarifying certain aspects of various procedures, the new AI also states is that the Kosovo Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has accepted WIPO’s Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks meaning that the IPO can now refuse an application for a mark that is in conflict with a well-known international trademark even if the latter is not registered in Kosovo.

Additionally, the Kosovo IPO has accepted the list of recommendations from the INTA Board Resolution on Bad Faith Trademark Applications and Registrations when assessing if an application was filed in bad faith.

Finally, according to the new AI, parties in an opposition procedure are now obliged to inform the IPO within 30 days from the date of the decision of the Complaint Committee of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade if a lawsuit against the decision has been filed with the competent Court. Otherwise, the IPO will consider the Complaint Committee’s decision as final.

By: Mihajlo Zatezalo

For more information, please contact Mihajlo Zatezalo at our Serbia office.