Kosovo New Law on Customs Measures for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

On December, 29, 2009, the Parliament of Kosovo approved the Law on Customs Measures for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

The new regulation will enter into force 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo, following its ratification by the President of Kosovo, which is expected within the next few weeks.

The new regulation replaces the previous regulation, Implementing Customs measures regarding goods Infringing Intellectual Property Rights, and brings it in line with the corresponding EU regulations.

The new regulation provides advantages to IP right holders. According to the new regulation, IP right holders are not required to go to court in order to obtain approval for the destruction of counterfeit or pirated goods, as long as the consent of the importer is obtained.

With respect to the filing of customs application, the new regulation does not explicitly establish the obligation to submit certificates of registrations with the customs application. This is an important point as the Kosovo PTO may not be able to promptly issue the necessary certificates of registration, at least not in the near future, due to the extremely high volume of applications received since its opening in November 2007.

In the absence of a certificate of registration, IP right holders may support their rights before the Customs authorities by other means provided by the new Customs Regulations, such as the well-known mark argument.

Source:The Law on Customs Measures for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights; Parliament of Kosovo website

For more information, please contact Florentina Grubi.