Montenegro: End of Summer Update

After its separation from Serbia in June, the official stance of the Government of the Republic of Montenegro Ministry for International Economic Relations and European Integrations is that until suitable laws are passed in the Republic of Montenegro laws that were in force in the Union of Serbia and Montenegro would be enforced as if they were the laws of the Republic of Montenegro.

Therefore, based on the above, until a new national PTO is established we believe that the IP rights validly registered in Serbia, both before and after the dissolution of the Union, will be enforceable in the new country.

In addition, we believe that once a Montenegrin PTO is established, a revalidation period will be permitted whereby holders of IP rights in Serbia will have 6-12 months to revalidate their existing IP rights in the new country.

It is also important to note, however, that the Republic of Montenegro does have its own Law on Enforcement of the Legislation that Regulates Intellectual Property Rights which gives various government agencies, such as Customs and the Market Inspectorate, the authority to detain and seize infringing goods. Applications for the enforcement of IP rights, therefore, must be made separately for Montenegro, even though such applications will have to be based on IP rights registered in Serbia. We encourage our clients to consider filing Customs Watch Notices and also Market Inspectorate Notices in Montenegro, a popular transit area for counterfeit products.

For more information on Montenegro, please contact Slobodan Petosevic or Kathryn Szymczyk.