Serbia Introduces New Executive Order Regulating Patent Application Filing Process

Following entry into force of patent law amendments, the Serbian IPO introduced an Executive Order regulating the patent application filing procedure in more detail.

The Order, which entered into force on November 9, 2019, elaborates on certain amendments to provide for their implementation. The most significant changes brought by the Order are the following:

• When filing a patent or petty patent application in electronic form, the attachments submitted along with the application will be considered as original documents due to the use of a qualified electronic signature. Most significantly, this means that it is no longer required to submit an original Power of Attorney in paper form after applying electronically. An original Power of Attorney is still required for applications filed in paper form, therefore the procedure for traditional applications remains unchanged.

• The Serbian IPO will keep a Patent Register and a Petty Patent Register in electronic form only. Patent and petty patent registers in paper form no longer exist, while the registers of patent and petty patent applications have been abolished altogether.

By: Nada Milović

For more information, please contact Nada Milović at our Serbia office.