PETOŠEVIĆ PEOPLE: Q&A with Mladen Čolović

PETOŠEVIĆ Montenegro Head of Office Mladen Čolović has been part of our Podgorica team since 2008. Mladen mostly handles trademark prosecution and enforcement, as well as contentious patent and industrial design matters. We asked Mladen about his work, his favorite food, the music he likes, and much more.

1. How did you start your career in IP?

   My career in IP started with PETOŠEVIĆ in 2008, a few months after the Montenegrin IPO was established. It has been an ongoing journey for the past 13 challenging years.

2. What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

   Finding the right arguments to challenge or defend someone’s IP rights, depending on our position in a case. Creativity and clear thinking are the key to a favorable outcome.

3. What do you most enjoy doing at work?

   Working on cases, communicating with clients, doing customs-related work, representing clients before the IPO and local courts… I also enjoy doing other tasks that sometimes come my way. To quote our slogan, we are “embracing change” every day.

4. What would you be working in, if you weren’t working in IP?

   Probably as an attorney dealing with civil and criminal law.

5. What was the first job you’ve ever had?

   I worked as a lawyer for a construction company that built the city stadium in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. I started working there a few months after I graduated from law school, and it was a nice work experience – construction, machines and lots of workers, which is exciting for a young man.

6. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

   I like to read books on various topics: fiction, philosophy, psychology, and of course law. I have three small kids, so I haven’t been able to get around to reading much in the past few years.

7. What book did you read last?

   I usually read multiple books at the same time, but not very quickly. The latest group of books were by George Orwell, Daniel Goleman, Friedrich Hayek and Peter Handke.

8. What is your favorite song/music at the moment?

   I love the late 80s/early 90s pop and rock music from the former Yugoslavia.

9. What is your favorite dish of all time?

   I like Montenegrin national cuisine. One of my favorites is roasted lamb and “cicvara“ (a kind of polenta with farmer cheese).

10. If you could meet anyone in the world, from the past or present, who would it be and why?

    It’s a tough question! For spiritual purposes, I would like to meet the Buddha, Muhammad or Jesus Christ. It would be also nice to meet the great writers and thinkers Dostoevsky, Bukowski, Aldous Huxley, Noam Chomsky, Vladeta Jerotić and Jordan Peterson. And finally Muhammad Ali, as I like boxing very much.

11. What was your favorite subject in school and why?

    In elementary school I liked math and English, mostly because I liked the teachers. In high school, I didn’t like any subjects or teachers.

12. What did you want to be when growing up?

    Some kind of a hero, which obviously didn’t happen.

13. Tell us three things most people don’t know about you.

    I like boxing very much. I’ve been watching cooking videos on YouTube over the past few months — it’s developing into a kind of passion, but I haven’t practiced much.

14. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

    I would like to be a chef in my own restaurant. Not now but maybe one day.

15. What is your biggest frustration about the world around you?

    Many people are unhappy for various reasons, some are cruel to others for no apparent reason… People seem to lack empathy and solidarity.

16. What is the most important thing you have learned in the last five years?

    To be more calm and patient.

17. What do you wish you could have told yourself at age 13?

    Not all people are as kind and nice as you think.

18. What cities/countries have you lived in?

    I have only lived in Podgorica, Montenegro and for a few months in Kotor, Montenegro.

19. If you could live in another country of the 30+ countries where PETOŠEVIĆ operates, which would you pick and why?

    I would probably pick Serbia or Croatia, which are both linguistically and culturally similar to my country.

20. If someone came to your city for 24 hours, where would you take them?

    I would take them for a coffee chat at a nice café and then to a dinner in one of the national restaurants.