Serbia adopted the Law on the Protection of Topographies of Semiconductor Products in July 2013; now this relatively new piece of legislation is facing amendments again. Since the proposed changes affect most provisions of the existing law, a completely new law is likely to come into force.
The drafted text of the proposed new law further harmonizes national legislation with international standards in this field, in accordance with the EU and WTO regulations and the TRIPS Agreement.
The main novelties include:
- An application for registration has been replaced by a request for entry into the register, in order to facilitate the registration process;
- More precise definitions on which individuals may be rights holders, particularly in terms of nationals of WTO member states;
- Detailed rules governing the registration procedure and the entrance of topographies into the register kept by the Serbian IPO;
- Right to appeal against the decisions of the competent authority, in accordance with the principle of two instance decision-making, as one of the basic principles of administrative proceedings; and
- Provisions on compulsory licensing.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.