In accordance with Article IV.4 (a) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the session of the House of Peoples held on January 17, 2002 and on the session of the House of Representatives held on January 16, 2002, has enacted the

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY LAW OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Content of the Law

This Law regulates the grant, the subject matter and the protection of the following industrial property rights: patents, trademarks and service marks, industrial design and geographical indications.

Article 2

Subject Matter of the Protection

1.                  Inventions shall be protected by patents, i.e. patent with limited duration.

2.                  Sign suitable for distinguish of goods and services shall be protected by trademarks or service marks.

3.                  New shapes of products or parts of products shall be protected by industrial designs.

4.                  Sign that indicates geographical origin shall be protected by geographical indications.

Article 3

Material and Moral Rights

1.                  Rights afforded under this Law shall confer on a rightful claimant both material and moral rights.

2.                  Material rights shall include the exclusive commercial exploitation and disposal of industrial property rights by their holders in accordance with this law.

3.                  It shall be the moral right of the creators of inventions and of new shapes of products, pictures and drawings to be designated as such both in the application and in all documents relating to patents and industrial designs.

4.                  When an invention, a new shape of a product, a picture or a drawing is the product of the creative activity of several persons, all such persons shall be designated as creators in the documents referred to in paragraph (3) of this Article.

Article 4

Equal Status of Foreign Natural and Legal Persons

1.                  Foreign natural and legal persons shall enjoy, in respect of the protection of industrial property rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same rights as domestic legal or natural persons, or other domestic nationals, if this results from international contracts and conventions acceded by Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: international treaties and conventions) or from the application of the principle of reciprocity.

2.                  The existence of reciprocity shall be assumed until proved otherwise.

Article 5

Request for Acquisition of Industrial Property Rights

1.                  In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the acquisition of individual industrial property rights will be sought by filing an application with the Institute for Standardization, Metrology and Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter referred to as "the Institute"), i.e. with the Institute's branch-offices in accordance with this law.

2.                  Applications by which the acquisition of industrial property rights is sought in a foreign country, shall also be accepted by the Institute if so provided for in international contracts or conventions to which Bosnia and Herzegovina has acceded.

3.                  The acquisition of industrial property rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina may also be requested with an application filed abroad, which is not filed with the Institute, if this is in accordance with international treaties and conventions. The legal effect of the rights granted on the basis of the application filed abroad shall be the same as that of the rights granted on the basis of a national application, unless otherwise provided for by the respective international treaty or convention.

4.                  Foreign or international applications filed in accordance with paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of this Article shall be in accordance with the respective international treaty or convention, which forms the basis for their filing.

5.                  Individual industrial property rights in respect of which an application is filed abroad in accordance with paragraph (3) of this Article shall not be acquired on the strength of the application if a foreign or international application related to the same right has been filed.

6.                  Paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of this Article shall not apply to confidential inventions.

Article 6

Concept of Priority

As from the date of receipt at the Institute of a correct application for a patent, model right, design right, trademark or service mark, the applicant shall have priority over any other person who subsequently files an application for the same invention, shape, picture, drawing or sign.

Article 7

Exhibition Priority Right

1.                  Anyone who exhibits an invention, shape of product, picture or drawing  or who uses a specific mark for marking goods or services, at an officially recognized exhibition or fair of international nature in Bosnia and Herzegovina or other country member of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property (hereinafter referred to as: Paris Union) or the World Trade Organization (hereinafter referred to as: WTO) may, within three months following the closing date of the exhibition or fair, claim in his application the priority right as of the first day of showing of the invention or use of the distinctive sign.

2.                  A written certificate issued by a competent authority of the country member of the Paris Union or WTO shall be submitted with the application referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article attesting to the officially recognized international nature of the exhibition or fair and stating the type of exhibition or fair, the place at which it was held, the opening and closing dates and the first day of exhibition or use.

3.                  Certificates attesting that an exhibition or fair held in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an officially recognized exhibition or fair of an international nature shall be issued by a competent Chamber of Economy.

Article 8

Union Priority Right

1.                  Any national or a country member of the Paris Union or WTO, who has filed a correct first application in any country member of the Paris Union or WTO, shall be afforded a priority right in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which for patents shall be 12 months and, for model rights, design rights or marks six months, following the filing date of the original application.

2.                  Anyone who intends to invoke the right of priority referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article must quote in the application filed with the Institute, within the deadline stated in paragraph (1) of this Article, all data concerning the application referred to (State, date and number of application).

3.                  Upon request by the Institute or a court, n the event of a dispute, the applicant invoking the union priority right shall forward a true copy of the first application certified by the competent authority of the Paris Union or WTO State member.

Article 9

Multiple Priority Claim

1.  The patent applicant may, subject to the requirements referred to in Article 8 of this Law, claim multiple priority right on the basis of several earlier applications filed in one or more of the member States of the Paris Union or WTO.

2.  If multiple priority right is granted, the time limits which, under this Law, run from the date of granted priority, shall be computed as from the earliest date of the multiple priority right.

Article 10

Computation of Time Limits in the Case of Granting Multiple Priority Right

1.                  The recognition of a priority right under Article 7 of this Law shall not extend the time limits laid down in Articles 8 and 9 of this Law.

2.                  The grant of priority under Article 31 of this Law shall have the effect that the filing date of the priority application shall count as the filing date of the Yugoslav application in which the priority is claimed, particularly for the purposes of Articles 6 and 30 of this Law.

3.                  The Institute shall not grant a priority right under Articles 7, 8, and 9, if the applicant does not submit an appropriate document within deadlines determined by implementing provisions.

Article 11

Provision applied in patent granting procedure

1.                  The Director of the Institute shall issue provisions for implementing this Law (hereinafter referred to as: implementing provisions), regulating in greater detail issues related to patent granting procedures.

2.                  Provisions of the Law on Administrative Procedure shall regulate individual issues that are not regulated by this Law and implementing provisions.

Article 12

Competences of the Institute

1.  Administrative proceedings and other administrative acts relating to the acquisition and protection of rights in inventions and distinctive signs shall be carried out by the Institute.

2.  Administrative decisions made by the Institute in the first instance shall be subject to appeal before the Appellate Commission of the Institute provided that the action is brought within 15 days as from the day of making the decision. The implementing provisions shall regulate in greater detail the setting up, competence, and procedure of the Appellate Commission.

3.  There shall be no appeal against a decision made by the Institute in the second instance; however, an administrative litigation proceeding shall be possible through filing an action before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The suit shall be submitted directly to the Institute.

Article 13

Fees and Procedural Charges for the Acquisition and Maintenance of Industrial Property Rights

1.                  The grant, maintenance and cancellation of industrial property rights under this Law shall be subject to the payment of fees and the cost of publication and other services shall also be paid, in accordance with the valid provisions regulating the administrative fees (hereinafter referred to as: fees) and the special procedural charges (hereinafter referred to as: procedural charges). The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations shall lay down special regulations setting the amount of the fees and procedural charges, upon the proposal by the Director of the Institute.

2.                  The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be competent for concluding international treaties and egreements in the field of industrial property.

Article 14

Registers

1.  The Institute shall, for every individual industrial property right, maintain the following registers:

a)  register of applications for grants of industrial property rights;

b)  register of granted industrial property rights; and

c)  register of agents for protection of industrial property.

2.  All the registers referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be open to the public.

3.  All persons interested in seeing records of granted rights shall be able to do so at their oral request and in the presence of an official of the Institute.

4.  The content of the registers referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be regulated by the implementing provisions.

5.  The registers referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be kept in electronic format, networked in the unified information system of industrial property of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Article 15

The Official Gazette of the Institute

The data concerning rights afforded under this Law, which are entered into the registers, shall be published in the Official Gazette published by the Institute (hereinafter referred to as: the Official Gazette).

Article 16

Representation

1.  Natural and legal persons acting as agents in the procedure for protecting industrial property rights before the Institute shall be entered into the register of agents kept by the Institute.

2.                  Natural and legal persons meeting the conditions laid down by the implementing provisions shall be entered into the register of patents referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.

3.                  In proceeding before the Institute, foreign natural or legal persons shall assert their rights under this Law only through their authorized agent.

Article 17

Access to information

1.                  The Institute shall afford all interested legal and natural persons access to its documentation on the industrial property rights, with the exception of documentation in the pre-publication procedure that is considered the official secret.

2.                  Subject to payment of the corresponding costs, the Institute shall provide information on the state of the art written in the patent documents and shall also perform services of searching the records of applied and granted industrial property rights and other services relating to the field of information and documentation.

3.                  The services of searching the records referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for foreign persons shall be done through authorized agents.

4.                  Education of users shall be completed in the branch-offices of the Institute.

Article 18

Order of Examination of Applications

1.  Applications shall be examined pursuant to the sequence established by the filing dates.

2.  Exception to the provision in paragraph (1) shall be made and an application shall be examined using emergency procedure when:

a)  there is a litigation procedure being taken, with the onus of filing the request for use of the emergency procedure and presenting evidence about the litigation;

b)  there is a request being filed for the international registration of a trademark;

c)  it is indispensable, pursuant to other regulations, to use the emergency procedure for registration, within the determined deadline;

d)  there is a special request filed by the applicant.

II - TITLES OF PROTECTION

1. PATENTS

Article 19

Patentable Inventions

1.                  A patent shall be granted for an invention which is new, which involves an inventive step and which is susceptible of industrial application.

2.                  The following in particular shall not be considered to be the inventions within the meaning of paragraph (2) of this Article:

a)  discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods,

b)  aesthetic creations,

c)  rules, instructions or methods for performing mental activity, playing games or doing business,

d)  computer programs

e)  presentations of information, defined by the content itself of such information.

3.                  The provisions referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article shall apply only to the extent to which the subject matter of a patent application is the indicated element or the activity as such.

Article 20

Exceptions to Patentability

1.                  The following may not be protected by a patent:

a)  inventions, the publication or use of which would be contrary to law or morality;

b)  inventions of surgical or diagnostic methods or methods of treatment practiced on the human or animal body, with the exception of inventions relating to substances for use in any of these methods.

Article 21

Novelty of an Invention

1.                  An invention is new when it is not anticipated by prior art.

2.                  Prior art consists of everything that has been made accessible to the public by written or oral description, use or any other means prior to the filing date of the patent application.

3.                  The prior art shall also include the content of all patent applications as filed with the Institute, the filing dates of which are earlier than the date of application referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article, and which were made available to the public only on, or after the date of filing the patent application, and specifically:

a)  national patent applications;

b)  applications for a European patent, if they require protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

c)  applications filed pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), if they require protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

4.                  An invention shall be considered to form part of the prior art if it was made available to the public by publication, exhibition, demonstration or use in such a way as to enable persons skilled in the art to apply it.

Article 22

Disclosures not Affecting Novelty

1.                  When applying the provisions from Article 20, an invention shall also be considered to be new if not more than six months prior to the filing date of the patent application it has formed part of the state of the art due to:

a.                                          an evident abuse in relation to the patent applicant or his legal predecessor, or

b.                                           the display at an official or officially recognized international exhibition in compliance with the Convention on International Exhibitions, provided that the applicant indicates in the patent application, at the time of its filing, that the invention has been so displayed, and within the deadline and under conditions determined by this Law, submits a corresponding certificate to that effect.

Article 23

Inventive Step

1.                  An invention shall be regarded as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the prior art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

2.                  In deciding whether an invention involves an inventive step, the content of the applications referred to in Article 21, paragraph (3) of this Law shall not be taken into consideration.

Article 24

Industrial Applicability

1.                  An invention shall be considered industrially applicable if it is technically feasible and can be manufactured or applied in industry or any other activity.

Article 25

Patents of Addition

Supplements or improvements of an invention shall be protected by a patent of addition.

Article 26

Short-term patents

1.                  With the exception of processes, animal and plant varieties, the following inventions can be protected by a short-term patent:

a)  inventions which are patentable according to this Law;

b)  inventions which are new, susceptible of industrial application and involve an inventive step.

2.                  The provisions of this Law pertaining to patents shall also apply to the procedure for the grant of short-term patents, unless otherwise provided for by provisions of this Law pertaining to such patents.

1. Right to the acquisition of a patent

Article 27

Inventor and Inventor's Right

1.                  The right to a patent shall belong to the inventor. In the patent granting procedure, the person who filed the patent application shall be considered the inventor, unless the application clearly states otherwise or unless a competent court rules that another person is to be considered to be the inventor.

2.                  If the invention has been created jointly by several inventors, the right to a joint patent shall belong to the inventors.

3.                  An inventor shall be the person who has created an invention in the course of his creative work.

4.                  A legal or natural person who is not an inventor shall be entitled to the protection of an invention by virtue of the law, legal business or inheritance.

2. Patent Granting Procedure

Article 28

Institution of the Patent Granting Procedure

1.                  The patent granting procedure shall be instituted by filing a submission containing a request for the grant of a patent (hereinafter: a patent application), in accordance with this Law and implementing provisions.

2.                  Each invention shall be filed as a separate patent application.

3.                  By one patent application the patent grant for several inventions may be applied for, only if such inventions are so linked as to form a single inventive concept (unity of the invention).

4.                  A short-term patent can be requested when filing the application or within a period of 12 months after the filing date, at the latest. When this term has expired, the request shall be irrevocable.

Article 29

Content of a Patent Application

1.                  A patent application shall contain:

a)  a request for the grant of a patent,

b)  a description of the invention,

c)  one or more claims for the protection of the invention,

d)  any drawings referred to in the description or the claims,

e)  an abstract of an invention.

2.                  An application shall be deemed correct if it meets the conditions stated in paragraph (1) of this Article.

3.                  All other drawings and attachments shall be filed in the manner and in the number of copies as defined by the implementing provision.

Article 30

Request for the Grant of a Patent

1.                  A request for the grant of a patent shall contain:

a)  the name or the title and the address of the applicant,

b)  the name and the address of the inventor, or the indication that the inventor does not want to be mentioned in the application,

c)  the title of the invention expressing the essence of the invention.

2.                  When the inventor does not want to be mentioned in the application or other documents prescribed by this Law, the applicant shall file a written declaration of the inventor to this effect to the Institute not later than within 90 days as from the filing date of the application.

3.                  The inventor may, in the course of the procedure as from the receipt of the patent application up to the publication thereof, withdraw his declaration stating that he does not want to be mentioned in the application and other documents prescribed by this Law.

Article 31

Description of the Invention

1.                  The patent application must disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and precise for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

2.                  If the invention relates to a viable biological material which cannot be disclosed in a manner enabling it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, the application must be accompanied by the proof to the effect that the sample of such material has been deposited with the competent institution not later than on the filing date of the patent application.

3.                  The competent institution referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be considered to be the institution which complies with the requirements prescribed by the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, of 1997.

Article 32

Patent Claims

1.                  Patent claims shall define the subject matter the protection of which is applied for.

2.                  Patent claims shall be clear and concise and fully supported by the description of an invention.

Article 33

Abstract

The abstract shall be the short summary of the essence of an invention serving exclusively for the purpose of technical information and shall have no effect on the scope of protection requested.

Article 34

Filing Date

1.  The accordance of the filing date of the patent application with the Institute shall require that on such a date the application contains:

a)  express indication that the grant of a patent or a short-term patent is applied for,

b)  the name or the company name respectively, and the residence or the business seat respectively of the applicant,

c)  the description of an invention and one or more patent claims, provided that they are not, at the first sight, contrary to the requirements of the Articles 31 and 32 of this Law and the implementing provisions.

2.                  The date and number of receipt of the application, which fulfils the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article,  at the Institute shall be noted on the application and a certificate to that effect shall be issued to the applicant at his request.

3.                  If the Institute establishes that the application does not fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraph (1)  of this Article, the Institute shall invite the applicant to remedy all deficiencies within the time limit prescribed in the implementing provision.

4.                  If the applicant fails to comply with the invitation if the Institute, within the time limit prescribed, the patent application shall be rejected by a decision.

5.                  If the applicant corrects the deficiencies within the time limit, the Institute shall issue a decision whereby the date of receipt of the required corrections shall be accorded as the filing date of the patent application.

6.                  If it is determined that an application which does not fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has been recorded in the register of applications, the Institute shall issue a decision on removing such application from the register.

Article 35

Amendments of the Patent Application

1.                  The patent application to which the filing date has been accorded shall not be subsequently amended by extending the subject matter the protection of which is applied for.

2.                  Changes and amendments to other data comprised in the application, by which the subject matter of the application is not extended, can be carried out until the completion of the procedure.

Article 36

Examination of a Patent Application

1.                  After the filing date has been accorded, the Institute shall establish whether the application complies with the following requirements:

a)  does it contain all the elements referred to in Article 29 of this Law and in implementing provision, and do they meet the defined requirements as to the correctness,

b)  whether the inventor is mentioned, or whether the application contains his declaration to the effect that he does not want to be mentioned in the application,

c)  whether the subject matter of the application is, at first sight, patentable within the meaning of Article 19, paragraph (1) and Articles 20 and 26 of this Law, if the subject matter of the application is a short-term patent.

d)  is a separate application filed for each invention, if the application, at first sight, does not comply with the rule on the unity of invention referred to in paragraph (3) of Article 28.

2.                  If the examination establishes that the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article are not complied with, the Institute shall invite the applicant to correct deficiencies expressly indicated in the invitation within the time limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of receipt of the invitation.

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant the Institute may extend the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for a period which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of the expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  If the applicant complies with the invitation referred to in this Article, the Institute shall grant the priority right.

Article 37

Rejection of Application and Suspension of Procedure

1.                  If the applicant does not correct the deficiencies referred to in the invitation of the Institute within the prescribed time limit, or fails to pay the fees and procedural charges, the Institute shall issue a decision on the rejection of the patent application.

2.                  If the applicant, in the course of procedure, declares in writing that he wishes to renounce his request, the Institute shall issue a decision on the suspension of the procedure.

Article 38

Refusal of Application

1.                  The Institute shall issue a decision on the refusal of the request for the grant of a patent if the application has been filed for an invention which is not patentable within the meaning of Article 19, paragraph (2), and Article 20, or Article 26 of this Law when an application for a short term patent was filed.

2.                  The application which does not comply with the requirements of Article 19, paragraph (2), Article 20 or Article 26, of this Law, shall not be published.

Article 39

Conversion into an Industrial Design Application

1.                  The applicant can submit a request for converting a patent application into an industrial design application in the course of the procedure for grant of the right, under the condition that the applicant pays prescribed fees and procedural charges.

2.                  The industrial design application shall enjoy the priority of the original patent application.

Article 40

Publication of a Patent Application

1.                  If a patent application complies with all the requirements referred to in Article 36 of this Law, the Institute shall issue, subject to the payment of the administrative fee and procedural charges for the publication, a decision on publishing the application in the Official gazette.

2.                  The patent application shall be published on expiry of 18 months as from the filing date or the date of any claimed priority. At the request of the applicant and on payment of the prescribed fee, the application may be published at an earlier date, but not before 90 days have elapsed after the filing date.

3.                  The publication of a patent application shall comprise the publication of an abstract, a characteristic figure of the drawings, if any, and bibliographic indications as specified by the implementing provision.

4.                  The published patent application shall became available to the public.

5.                  The application which was not published shall be available to any interested party only with a prior written consent of the applicant.

Article 41

Grant of a Patent

1.                  After publication of a patent application the Institute shall issue a decision on the grant of a patent. The date of the publication of the patent application in the Official Gazette shall be considered as the date of the grant of the patent.

2.                  The decision on the grant of a patent shall also determine the scope of patent rights afforded by the text of accepted patent claims.

3.                  Granted patent shall be entered into the register of patents.

4.                  The institute shall issue a decision on the grant of a patent provided that the applicant, within the prescribed time limit, pays administrative fees and procedural charges for issuing a patent certificate and printing a patent file.

5.                  The content and the form of the patent certificate and patent file shall be specified by the implementing provision.

Article 42

Submission of Evidence

1.                  The patentee or the holder of an exclusive license shall be required to submit to the Institute written evidence that the patented invention satisfies the requirements of Articles 19, 20, 21, 23 and 24 of this Law, not later than the date of expiration of the ninth year of the patent term.

2.                  If the patentee or the holder of an exclusive license fails to act in accordance with the provisions in paragraph (1) of this Article, the validity of the patent shall expire at the latest on the date of expiration of the tenth year of the patent term.

3.                  If the patentee or the holder of an exclusive license for the patent sues a third person for patent infringement, he shall be obliged to submit the written evidence referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article. In such case, the Institute shall be obliged to deal with the matter immediately and to issue a decision in accordance with Article 44 of this Law.

Article 43

Written Evidence

1.                  The Institute shall consider evidence as referred to in Article 42 of this Law a granted European patent for the same invention, translated into one of the official languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2.                  If no application for a European patent was filed, the Institute shall consider evidence as referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article a translation of the patent for the same invention into one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, granted in a substantive examination procedure by any national or international patent office which, according to Article 32 of Patent Cooperation Treaty, enjoys the status of International Preliminary Examining Authority or by any other patent office with which a corresponding agreement has been concluded.

3.                  When written evidence was submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) of this Article, the patentee or the holder of an exclusive license for the patent shall be required to submit the list and copies of all documents which can be considered evidence, including information on previously rejected patents.

4.                  If the patentee or the holder of an exclusive license for the patent is not in the possession of evidence referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article, he shall be entitled to require that the Institute obtain necessary data or opinion from an authority competent for issuing the decision. The patentee or the holder of an exclusive license for the patent shall pay fees for obtaining the opinion or data.

5.                  If the patentee or the holder of an exclusive license for the patent fails to pay administrative fees and procedural charges when submitting evidence referred to in this Article or fails to submit proposal of translation of evidence into one of the official languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina it shall be considered that no evidence was submitted.

Article 44

Issuance of final decision on the grant of rights

1.                  On the basis of the submitted documentary evidence and other documents referred to in paragraph (4) of Article 43, the Institute shall issue one of the following decisions:

a)  a decision on the grant of rights stating that the invention protected by the patent fulfills the conditions as referred to in Articles 19, 20, 21, 23 and 24 of this Law;

b)  a decision on the grant of rights stating that the invention only partially satisfies the requirements of Articles 19, 20, 21, 23, and 24 which correspondingly implies the narrowing of the scope of the claim or claims;

c)  a declaration of revocation of the decision if the patent did not satisfy the requirements for protection on the date the application was filed.

2.                  Prior to issuing a decision referred to in paragraph (1),  subparagraphs b) and c), of this Article, the Institute shall, in  the written notification, inform the patentee of the reasons due to which the patent shall not be granted and shall invite him to comment, in the written form, on the specified reasons, within the time limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from receipt of the invitation, and to remedy all possible deficiencies.

3.                  If the patentee does not comply with the request of the Institute within the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article or if the patentee does not agree with the Institute's proposal, the Institute shall issue a decision on the annulment or partial annulment of the patent as of the date of the grant of the patent (ex tunc).

4.                  Any patent for which a decision on the change of patent claims has been issued shall be published again. The patent claims which were changed shall not have the scope of the patent protection outside the scope of patent protection determined by the original scope of the patent claims.

Article 45

Granted European patent as Evidence

1.                  For a patent, valid in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis of an application filed abroad in accordance with paragraph (3) of Article 5 of this Law, the provisions of Articles 42 and 43 of this Law shall be deemed to be fulfilled, if it was granted after a full substantive examination by the European Patent Office.

2.                  The decision on the grant in respect of such a patent is deemed to be a decision on the recognition of rights within the meaning of Article 44 of this Law.

3.                  The provisions of Article 44 of this Law shall not apply to the procedure for the grant of short-term patents.

Article 46

Patents of Addition

1.                  An applicant or patentee who supplements or improves an invention for which an application has already been filed or a patent granted (hereinafter referred to as "the basic patent application", or "the basic patent") shall have the right to request a patent of addition within a period of 18 months following the filing date of the basic application.

2.                  A patent of addition cannot be requested in relation to a short-term patent.

3.                  Withdrawal of the basic application shall cancel the application procedure for the patent of addition.

Article 47

Conversion of Patents of Addition to Basic Patents

1.                  At the patentee's request, the competent court shall decide whether the patent of addition has become a basic patent if the grant of the basic patent has been revoked or the basic patent has lapsed.

2.                  The request referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article must be filed within three months following the date on which the decision on revocation of the basic patent has become final or the date on which it has lapsed.

3.                  If a patent of addition is declared a basic patent, other patents of addition may be related to the new basic patent as patents of addition, at the request of the patentee.

3. Patents for Secret Inventions

Article 48

Secret Applications

1.                  Patent applications by domestic legal or natural persons which relate to the defense of the country shall be deemed secret and shall be filed with the competent Ministries of Defense.

2.                  No appeal lie from decisions of the competent Ministries of Defense referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, issued in an administrative procedure in connection with a secret invention.

Article 49

Forwarding

1.                  If the competent Ministries of Defense find that the invention should not be deemed secret, the application shall be forwarded to the Institute, which shall deal with it in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

2.                  If, after a patent for a secret invention has been granted, the competent Ministries of Defense find that the invention should no longer be deemed confidential, the complete file relating to the patent shall be forwarded to the Institute. Upon receipt of such file, the Institute shall enter the patent in the register, issue a patent certificate and patent file to the patentee and publish the particulars of the patent in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Law.

Article 50

Use of a Patent for Secret Invention

1.                  The competent Ministries of Defense shall have the exclusive right to work and dispose of confidential inventions.

2.                  The rightful claimant to a secret invention protected by a patent shall be entitled to lump sum as compensation regardless of the scope of the use of the invention for the needs of national defense.

3.                  The amount of compensation referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be agreed upon by the applicant and by the Ministries responsible for defense. If agreement cannot be reached, the applicant shall be entitled to request a competent court to determine, in extrajudicial proceedings, the amount of compensation.

Article 51

Confidential Nature of Patents for Secret Inventions

1.                  The patent for a secret invention shall not be published.

2.                  Domestic legal and natural persons may seek protection for a secret invention abroad only with the approval of the competent Ministries of Defense.

Article 52

Inventions Concerning National Security

1.                  The provisions of Articles 48, 49, 50 and 51 of this Law shall also be applied to patent applications filed by domestic legal and natural persons which concern national security.

2.                  The competent Ministries of the Interior shall decide on the applications referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.

Article 53

Findings of the Institute Concerning Secret Nature of Invention

1.                  If the Institute receives an application for an invention it deems to be a secret invention, it shall notify the applicant on the matter and invite him to express his views on the findings within the time limit.

2.                  If the applicant agrees with the findings of the Institute, the application shall be forwarded for further consideration to the competent Ministries of Defense.

3.                  If the applicant does not agree with the findings of the Institute and substantiates his opinion with evidence that is accepted by the Institute, the Institute shall resume the procedure for the grant of the patent in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

4.                  If the applicant does not agree with the findings of the Institute and fails to substantiate his opinion or fails to substantiate it with sufficient evidence, the Institute shall issue a decision on its incompetence and forward the application to the competent Ministries of Defense.

4. Contents, Acquisition and Scope of Patent Rights

Article 54

Exclusive Rights Conferred by a Patent

1.                  A patent shall confer on its owner the following exclusive rights:

a)  where the subject matter of a patent is a product, to prevent third parties not having the owner's consent from the acts of: making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes the protected product;

b)  where the subject matter of a patent is a process, to prevent third parties not having the owner's consents from the act of using the process, and from the acts of offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes the product obtained directly by that process.

2.                  Patent owners shall have the right to transfer the patent by contract or succession, and to conclude licensing contracts.

3.                  Paragraph (2) of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the applicant of the patent application.

Article 55

Limitation of Exclusive Rights

The exclusive rights referred to in Article 54 shall not extend to:

a)  acts concerning the use of the patent subject matter done privately and for non-commercial purposes;

b)  acts done for research and experimental purposes of any kind relating to the subject matter of the patented invention irrespective of their final purpose;

c)  the extemporaneous preparation for individual cases in a pharmacy of a medicine in accordance with a medical prescription or acts concerning the medicine so prepared;

d)  the use on board vessels of other countries of the patented invention, in the body of the vessel, in the machinery, tackle, gear and other accessories, when such vessels temporarily or accidentally enter the waters of Bosnia and Herzegovina, provided that the invention is used there exclusively for the needs of the vessel;

e)  the use of the patented invention in the construction or operation of aircraft or land vehicles of other countries or of accessories to such aircraft or land vehicles, when these temporarily or accidentally enter the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina;

f)    the acts specified in Article 27 of the Convention on international civil aviation of the 7th December 1944, where these acts concern the aircrafts of a State benefiting from the provisions of Article 27 of the Convention.

Article 56

Right of the Prior Use

1.                  A patent or a short-term patent shall have no effect against the person who had prior to the date of priority granted in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina exploited or manufactured, in good faith, the product which is the subject matter of the invention or, had made real and serious preparations for such exploitation of the invention.

2.                  The person referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be entitled to use the invention exclusively for his own needs in his own plant or for his own needs in the plant of another person.

3.                  The person referred to in paragraph (1) above may not transfer the right to use the invention to another person except together with the enterprise or part of the enterprise in which the preparation or the use has taken place.

Article 57

Exhaustion of the Patent Owners’ Exclusive Authorizations

The patent owner may not prohibit to other persons offering for sale, sale or use of the product previously put on the domestic market by him or by other person having his express consent.

Article 58

Acquisition of Rights

1.                  A patent or a short-term patent is acquired on the basis of the decision on the grant and by entry thereof in the corresponding register.

2.                  The rights referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be valid as of the date of filing of the application

3.                  Refusal of patent or short-term patent shall have no retroactive effect on the contract on the transfer of rights from the application, or on the licensing contract if, and to the extent to which, the contract was implemented, except when the applicant acted in bad faith, or the patent or a short-term patent has not been granted due to the following reasons:

a)  the subject matter of the application is not considered to be an invention within the meaning of Article 19 and Article 26 of this Law, respectively.

b)  the subject matter of the patent application is not patentable within the meaning of Article 20 of this Law.

Article 59

Scope of Rights

1.                  The scope of rights acquired by patent or short-term patent shall be determined by the text of the claims which are finally accepted in the patent granting procedure, whereat the description and drawings serve to interpret these claims.

2.                  Where the subject matter of the patent is a process, the patent rights thereof shall also extend to the products directly produced in this process.

5. Duration, Maintenance and Cessation of Effect of a Patent

Article 60

Duration of Rights

1.                  The term of a patent shall be 20 years from the date of filing the application.

2.                  The term of a short-term patent shall be 10 years from the date of filing the application.

3.                  The duration of uninterrupted term of a patent can be extended over 20 years, but not for more than 5 years, in the following cases:

a)  in order to take account of a state of war or similar emergency conditions affecting the state;

b)  if the subject matter of the patent is a product or a process of manufacturing a product or a use of a product which has to undergo an administrative procedure required by law before it can be put on the market.

4.                  The competent Ministry shall issue regulations specifying in greater detail the carrying out of paragraph (3) of this Article.

Article 61

Maintenance of Rights

1.                  The maintenance of rights granted to a patent or short-term patent shall be subject to the payment of fees and procedural charges, in the amount and in the manner defined by the implementing provision.

2.                  If any right is entered in the register of granted rights in the name of another person, the Institute shall inform that person that the fee has not been paid and that he may pay the fee, in the amount and in the manner defined by the implementing provision, within six months from the date of the notification if he wishes to maintain the validity of the registered right.

Article 62

Renouncement of Rights

1.                  If the holder of a patent or short-term patent right files to the Institute a written declaration renouncing the right it shall lapse on the day following the date on which a written declaration has been filed.

2.                  If a license, pledge or any other right is entered in the register of granted rights in the name of another person, the holder of the patent, the model or design right, or the mark may not renounce his rights without written consent from the person in whose name the license, pledge or other right is entered.

Article 63

Pre-Term Lapse of a Patent

If the patent owner fails to pay a prescribed annual fee and procedural charges for the maintenance of a patent, the patent shall lapse on the day following the date on which the fees and procedural charges become due.

6. Special Provisions on the Patent Granting Procedure based on International Application

Article 64

International Patent Application

1.                  The international patent application shall be the application filed in compliance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaty"). Any reference in this Law to the Treaty (in Articles 64 to 66) shall be, at the same time, considered to be the reference to the implementing provision under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

2.                  To the international patent applications filed with the Institute as the receiving, designated, or elected office, the provisions of the Treaty, this Law, and the regulation enacted by virtue of this Law shall apply.

3.                  The filing of the international patent application with the Institute as the receiving, designated, or elected office shall be subject to payment  of the prescribed fee and procedural charges.

Article 65

International Patent Application Filed with The Institute as the Receiving Office

1.                  The international patent application shall be filed with the Institute as the receiving office if the applicant is a domestic legal or natural person, or a person having equal status to them.

2.                  The filing of the international patent application referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be, in compliance with Article 13 of this Law, subject to the payment of the prescribed fee and procedural charges for its transmittal to the International Bureau, within the time limit defined in the implementing provision.

Article 66

International Patent Application Filed with the Institute as the Designated or Elected Office

1.                  The international patent application in which Bosnia and Herzegovina is designated, in compliance with the provision of the Treaty, for the grant of a national patent, shall be filed with the Institute as the designated office within 24 months counting from the priority date.

2.                  The international application in which Bosnia and Herzegovina is, in compliance with the provisions of the Treaty, elected as the State in which the applicant intends to use the results of the international preliminary examination of that application for the purposes of being granted a national patent, shall be filed with the Institute as the elected office, within 34 months counting from the priority date.

3.                  The international patent application filed with the Institute as the designated or elected office shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Institute in the manner provided for in Article 40 of this Law.

7. Declaration of Nullity of the Decision on the Grant of a Patent

Article 67

Reasons for the Declaration of Nullity of the Decision on the Grant of a Patent

1.  The Institute may declare the decision on the grant of a patent or a short-term patent  null and void ex officio at any time, on the proposal of any interested person or a State Attorney, if it establishes that, at the time of issuance of the decision, the conditions for the grant of right defined by this Law were not fulfilled.

2.  If the person filing the proposal for the declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of a patent withdraws the proposal in the course of the procedure, the Institute may proceed ex officio.

3.  The procedure for the declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of a patent or a short-term patent shall be defined by the implementing provision.

Article 68

Decision Concerning the Proposal for the Declaration of Nullity of the Decision on the Grant of a Patent

1.  On the basis of the results of the procedure, the Institute shall issue a decision on the declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of a patent, entirely or partially, or the decision on the refusal of the proposal.

2.                  Declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of rights shall have no retroactive effect on legally binding decisions concerning the establishment of the infringement, or to the concluded contracts on the transfer of rights, or licensing contracts, if and to the extent in which these contracts were implemented, provided that the plaintiff or the owner of the right acted in good faith.

2. TRADEMARK

Article 69

The Concept of a Trademark

1.  A trademark shall protect a sign which may be represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.

2.                  Trademarks may protect signs, in particular: words, letters, numerals, slogans, abbreviations, graphical representations, combinations of colors and the tints thereof, three-dimensional forms, shapes of the goods or the packaging thereof, provided that they are distinctive, as well as the combinations of all the above indicated signs.

3.                  A seal, a stamp and a hallmark (official mark identifying precious metals, measures, etc.) shall not, under this Law, be considered to be trademarks.

4.                  In evaluating whether a sign is capable of distinguishing goods or services in the course of trade, all circumstances, in particular the duration and scope of the use of the sign in marketing goods and services in the Republic of Slovenia, shall be taken into account.

5.                  The nature of goods or services that the trademark designates shall under no circumstances present an obstacle to the grant of trademark.

Article 70

Collective Trademark

1.  A collective trademark shall protect a sign that is capable of distinguishing goods or services originating with members or partners of a legal person established with a view to the common designation of goods or services placed on the market by those members or partners from the goods and services of other entrepreneurs.

2.                  The legal or natural person designated in the instrument on use of the collective mark shall be authorized to use a collective mark.

Article 71

Field of Application

This Law shall apply to individual, collective, and certification marks which are registered or applied for before the Institute or which are internationally registered with the effect for Bosnia Herzegovina.

Article 72

Grounds for Exclusion of Protection

1.                  A trademark shall not protect a sign:

a)  which is contrary to the public order or morality;

b)  which is not capable of being represented graphically;

c)  which is not capable, due to its representation, of distinguishing the goods or services in trade;

d)  which consists exclusively of signs or indications serving in trade to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, the time of production of the goods or of rendering of services, or some other characteristics of the goods or services;

e)  which consists exclusively of signs or indications which are customary in the current or professional language or established practices of the trade;

f)    which represents exclusively the shape defined by the kind of the goods, or the shape of the goods necessary to obtain a specific technical result, or the shape giving a substantial value to the goods;

g)  which may, by its representation, deceive the public particularly as to the geographical origin, nature, quality or any other characteristic of the goods or service;

h)  which contains a State or other official armorial bearing, flag or emblem, or name or abbreviation of the name of a country or international organization, or imitations thereof, except by approval of the competent authority of the respective country or organization;

i)    which contains official signs and hallmarks for controlling or guaranteeing of the quality, or imitations thereof;

j)    which represents or imitates a national or a religious symbol;

k)  which is identical to an earlier trademark designating the same kind of goods or services;

l)    which is identical or similar to an earlier trademark designating the same or similar kind of good or services which would result in a likelihood of confusion in trade, including the likelihood of association by the public of the sign applied for with the earlier trademark;

m)   which, by its representation or its contents, infringes copyrights or other industrial property rights;

n)  which are, at the time of filing a trademark application for the sign, well known trademarks in Bosnia and Herzegovina within the meaning of Article 6.bis of the Paris Convention and Article 16, paragraph (3), of TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), applying mutatis mutandis on services.

The knowledge of a trademark within the meaning of subparagraph n), shall also include the knowledge of a trademark in a relevant public sector, acquired as a result of the promotion thereof.

2.                  The image or name of a person may be protected only with the consent of that person. The image or name of a deceased person may be protected only with the consent of the spouse and children of the deceased; if the parents of the deceased are alive, their consent shall be necessary as well. The image or name of a historical personage or other personality may be protected with the permission of the Ministry responsible for administration.

1. Procedure for the Grant of a Trademark

Article 73

Filing of the Application

1.                  The procedure for the grant of a trademark shall be instituted by filing a submission containing a request for the grant of a trademark (hereinafter: a trademark application) in accordance with this Law and in a manner defined in the implementing provision.

2.                  Each sign applying for a trademark protection shall be filed as a separate application.

Article 74

The Content of the Application

1.                  A trademark application shall contain:

a)  a request for the grant of a trademark;

b)  surname and forename or the trade name of the applicant, residence if the applicant is a natural person, or the business seat if the applicant is a legal person;

c)  a representation of a sign applied for a trademark protection; if a three-dimensional sign is applied for, the representation of a two-dimensional appearance of the sign with at least two views - projections vertical to each other; if the sign is written in other alphabet than the Latin alphabet, its transliteration into Latin alphabet;

d)  the list of the goods or services the protection is applied for, in accordance with the Nice Agreement on International Classification of the Goods and Services for Trademark Registration;

e)  indication of color or combination of colors, if protection is sought for a colored trademark.

2.                  A trademark application shall be considered to be filed if it complies with the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.

3.                  Other elements of the application and the attachments thereto shall be filed in the manner and in the number of copies as prescribed by the implementing provision.

Article 75

Application for the Registration of the Collective Trademark

1.                  In addition to the elements referred to in the Article 74 of this Law a general instrument governing the grant of the right to use the collective mark shall be submitted with an application for the grant of a collective mark.

2.                  The general instrument referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall contain: the company name or trading name of the applicant and the name of the authority or person authorized to represent the applicant; provisions on the appearance of the mark; provisions relating to the persons entitled to use the collective mark and the conditions of such use; provisions concerning the rights and obligations of users of a collective mark in the event of infringement, as also provisions concerning the measures and consequences in the event of violation of the provisions of the general instrument.

Article 76

Filing Date of the Application

1.                  The application shall be entered in the register of applications only if it contains all elements referred to in Article 74, and Article 75 for collective marks, of this Law.

2.                  The number of the application and the date of its receipt with the Institute shall be noted on the application which contains all the elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article and a certificate  shall be issued to this effect at the request of the applicant.

3.                  If the application does not contain all elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Institute shall invite the applicant to remedy deficiencies within the time limit defined in the implementing provision.

4.                  If the applicant remedies deficiencies within the time limit prescribed, the date of receipt of the corrected application shall be accorded as the date of the filing of that application.

5.                   If it is determined that an application which does not fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has been recorded in the register of applications, the Institute shall issue a decision on removing such application from the register.

Article 77

Subsequent Changes in the Application

It shall not be possible to substantially change the appearance of the mark, nor to supplement the list of goods and services in an application to which a filing date has been accorded.

Article 78

Examination of the Correctness of the Trademark Application

1.                  A trademark application shall be correct if it contains all elements referred to in Article 74 and Article 75 of this Law, the evidence of effected payment of fees and procedural charges and other enclosures prescribed by the implementing provision.

2.                  If the Institute establishes that the application is not correct, it shall invite the applicant, in writing, to remedy deficiencies expressly indicated in the invitation within the time limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of receipt of the invitation

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant the Institute may extend the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for a period which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of the expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  All applications properly amended within the time limits referred to in the provisions of this Article shall enjoy the filing date of the first application which is considered to be a corrected application within the meaning of Article 76, paragraph (4) of this Law.

Article 79

Rejection of Application and Suspension of Procedure

1.                  If the applicant does not correct the deficiencies referred to in the invitation of the Institute within the prescribed time limit, or fails to pay the fees and procedural charges, the Institute shall issue a decision on the rejection of the trademark application.

2.                  If the applicant, in the course of procedure, declares in writing that he wishes to renounce his request, the Institute shall issue a decision on the suspension of the procedure.

Article 80

Examination of the Conditions for the Grant of Right

1.                  If the application is deemed correct in accordance with Article 78 of this Law, the Institute shall examine whether conditions for the grant of a trademark in accordance with Articles 60, 70 and 72 of this Law have been satisfied.

2.                  The Institute shall not issue the decision on the refusal or the decision on the partial acceptance of the trademark application if it has not previously notified the applicant in writing about the grounds for the exclusion, entire or partial, of the proposed sign from the protection in respect to the submitted list of the goods or services, and invited to make a declaration thereon or submit a request for changes and amendments within the time limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of receipt of the invitation.

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article may be extended for not more than 90 days from the date of the expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  The Institute shall reject the request for the grant of trademark by decision if the applicant to make a declaration concerning the grounds for the exclusion of the sign from the protection, or makes a declaration after which the Institute nevertheless considers that the trademark cannot be granted.

5.                  The Institute shall issue a decision on partial acceptance of the trademark application if the applicant fails to make a declaration concerning the grounds for the exclusion of the sign from the protection, or makes a declaration after which the Institute nevertheless considers that the trademark can only be partially granted.

Article 81

Division of an Application

1.                  An application for the registration of a trademark that contains the list of the goods or services the protection is applied for (hereinafter referred to as "initial application") may be, during the trademark granting procedure divided, on the request of the applicant, into two or several applications in respect to the proposed list of the goods and services. The request for division of the application shall contain prescribed elements.

2.                  The divided applications shall maintain the priority right on the basis of the filing date of the initial application.

3.                  A decision on division of the initial application shall be issued, containing file number of the initial trademark application, wording or pictorial representation of the applied sign, and the list of goods and services being the subject to initial application and the list of goods and services being the subject to divided application or applications.

4.                  The divided application, or applications, shall be entered into the register of applications.

5.                  The provisions of Article 128 of this Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedure of the division of initial trademark application.

Article 82

Decision on Registration of the Trademark

1.                  If the application fulfils the required conditions registration of a trademark, the Institute shall invite the applicant to  pay fees and procedural charges for the first ten-year period of trademark maintenance and the procedural charges for the publication of trademark in the Official Gazette.

2.                  If the applicant, within the prescribed time limit does not submit evidence of effected payments referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Institute shall reject the application by a decision.

3.                  The decision on the grant of a trademark is issued in accordance with the proposed sign and the attached list of goods or services which determines the scope of granted protection.

Article 83

Division of a Registration

1.                  A mark registered for several goods or services (hereinafter referred to as "initial registration") may be, during the trademark granting procedure divided, on the request of the applicant, into two or several registrations in respect to the proposed list of the goods and services. The request for division of the initial registration shall contain prescribed data.

2.                  The divided registration shall maintain all rights granted by the initial registration.

3.                  A decision on division of the initial registration shall be issued, containing file number of the initial registration, wording or pictorial representation of the applied sign, and the list of goods and services being the subject to initial registration and the list of goods and services being the subject to divided registration or registrations.

4.                  The divided registration, or divided registrations, shall be entered into the register of registrations.

5.                  The provisions of Article 128 of this Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedure of the division of initial registration.

Article 84

Request for International Registration of a Trademark

1.                  The owner of a trademark or the applicant may file a request for international registration of a trademark in accordance with the valid international treaties.

2.                  The request for international registration referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be filed trough the Institute in the manner and in the number of copies as prescribed by the implementing provision.

Article 85

International Registration

In the trademark granting procedure carried out under the provisions of international treaties and conventions Bosnia and Herzegovina is party to, the provisions of this Law shall apply to any matters not regulated by such treaties.

2. Contents, Scope and Acquisition of Trademark Rights

Article 86

Exclusive Rights

1.                  The trademark owner shall have the exclusive right of designating by the trade mark in the course of trade the goods or services it is granted for, and the exclusive right of using the trademark for such goods or services.

2.                  The right referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall include the use of trademark in packaging materials, catalogues, brochures, advertisements, instruction manuals, invoices, and in correspondence.

3.                  The applicant shall also be entitled to the right referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article as from the date of filing the application.

4.                  The trademark owner may prohibit to third persons not having his consent to use the sign which is identical with or similar to a sign for the goods or services of the identical or similar kind as those a trademark is granted for, or to use it for designating such goods or services, particularly to affix it on the goods or the packing thereof, to offer services or to put on the market the goods carrying such sign, or to store the goods with such intention, import or export the goods carrying such sign or to use such sign in the trade name, in the correspondence or in advertising.

5.                  The owner of a trademark shall have the right to require from any person putting or intending to put on the market the goods or services designated by a sign which is identical with or similar to his trademark, information about the origin of the goods, and trade channels thereof or the documentation relating to those goods or services.

6.                  The owner of the well-known trademark may prohibit to third persons not having his consent to use the identical or similar sign for the goods or services which are not identical with or similar to those for which the trademark is protected, if the use of such sign in relation to those goods or services would refer to the connection between those goods or services and the owner of the protected trademark, and if at the same time there is a likelihood that such use would be prejudicial for the interests of the owner of a protected trademark.

7.                  The owner of the trademark shall have the exclusive right to place the sign "(R)" next to a registered trademark, or another sign, so as to inform others in the course of trade that his trademark is registered.

Article 87

Scope of Rights

If a mark consists of words or letters or a combination of words and letters, the protection shall cover those words, letters or combinations thereof, transcripts and transliterations thereof, written in any script, in any color, or represented in any other way.

Article 88

Limitation of Rights

1.                  A mark which contains inscriptions, words or combinations of letters shall not preclude another person from marketing his goods and services under the same inscriptions, words, or combinations of letters if those inscriptions, words or combinations of letters represent his name, company name or title, if such has been acquired in good faith.

2.                  Anyone who has a name, company name or title identical with a mark at the time of the application for registration of such mark, may contest the right to use such a mark for the same or similar kinds of goods or services, except if the owner of the mark had, at the time of filing the application, the same name, company name or title.

Article 89

Acquisition of Trademark Rights

1.                  A trademark shall be acquired by a decision on the grant of the right and the entry of a trademark into the register.

2.                  The trademark shall be valid as from the date of filing of the application.

3.                  The date of entry of a trademark into the register shall be the same as the date on which a decision on the grant of a trademark has been made.

Article 90

Duration and Maintenance of Rights

1.                  A trademark shall be valid for 10 years counting from the date of filing the trademark application.

2.                  A trademark shall be renewed indefinite number of times, and that, for the periods of ten years each, provided that the trademark applicant file with the Institute a request for the extension of the trademark validity and pays the corresponding fee and procedural charges, in the course of the last year of the ten-year period of protection, or not later than within six months after the expiration of this period.

3.                  The new period of protection shall begin with the day of expiration of the previous ten-year period of protection.

Article 91

Use of a Trademark

1.  A trademark owner shall, to maintain the trademark validity, use a trademark in the country in respect to the goods or services for which it has been granted, unless serious reasons exist for its non-use, not depending on the trademark owner’s will, such as importation limitations or other government regulations in respect of the goods or services for which the trademark has been granted.

2.                  The use of a trademark in a slightly modified form not changing the distinctive character of a trademark, and the use of a trademark on the goods, equipment and packaging exclusively for the purpose of export shall also constitute the use of a trademark.

3.                  The use of a trademark by another person having the owner’s consent shall be considered to be the use by the owner himself.

4.                  The use of a trademark on the goods, equipment and packaging in the country shall also constitute the use of a trademark even when the goods are not intended exclusively for the purpose of export.

3. Lapse of Trademark

Article 92

Expiration of Rights

1.                  A trademark shall lapse if the term of ten-year protection expires, and the trademark owner does not file, within a prescribed time limit, a request fort the extension of the trademark validity and does not pay prescribed fees and procedural charges;

2.                  A trademark shall lapse even before the expiration of the period referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article:

a)  upon declaration by a trademark owner on the waiver of rights, on the day following the day of filing the waiver to the Institute in written form; this waiver shall have no legal effect if a specific right (license, right of lien, etc.) has been entered into the register in favor of third persons and the trademark owner had not previously obtained a written consent from those persons;

b)  if the trademark owner has not used a trademark over a continuous period of five years, without serious reason, starting from the date of entry into register or from the last use within the meaning of Article 89 of this Law;

c)  pursuant to a decision of the court, or another competent authority, in those cases provided for by this Law, on the date specified in such decision;

d)  if a collective mark is used contrary to the instrument of the collective trademark.

3.                  If the owner of the trademark does not pay prescribed fees and procedural charges and a license, right of lien, or another right for the benefit of a third person has been entered into the register, the Institute shall inform that person that the fees and procedural charges have not been paid, and that they can be paid within six months from receipt of the invitation and thus maintain the validity of trademark. Otherwise, the right to trademark shall lapse.

4.                  The procedure for cancellation of trademark referred to in subparagraph b) of paragraph (2) of this Article shall be defined to a greater detail in the implementing provision.

5.                  The lapse of a trademark shall be entered into the trademark register pursuant to the decision of the Institute and shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Article 93

Re-registration of a Trademark

1.                  If a mark lapses due to non-payment of prescribed fees and procedural charges, the holder of the mark shall have the exclusive right to request, within a period of one year following the date of the lapse of the mark, that the mark be registered again in his name for the same kind of goods or services.

2.                  In the case referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the holder of the mark shall be required to file again a trademark application.

4. Declaration of the Decision on the Grant of a Trademark Null and Void

Article 94

Grounds for Declaring the Decision on the Grant of a Trademark Null and Void

1.                  The Institute shall declare the decision on the grant of a trademark null and void, completely or only for particular goods and services, if it is established that the conditions for the grant of trademark, defined in Articles 69, 70 and 72 of this Law, did not exist at the time when the decision on the grant of the international registration have been used.

2.                  The decision on the grant of a trademark or international registration with effect for Bosnia and Herzegovina, may be declared null and void, completely or for particular goods and services, if the trademark has, after the decision on the grant was issued, gained characteristics of a generic indication.

Article 93

1.                  The decision on the grant of a trademark or the international registration with the effect in Bosnia and Herzegovina may be declared null and void during the whole term of the protection, ex officio, on the request of an interested party, or on the request of the state attorney.

2.                  Notwithstanding provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article, the request for declaring a decision on the grant of a trademark or the international registration with the effect for Bosnia and Herzegovina null and void, on the basis of Article 72, paragraph (2), subparagraphs k) and h), of this Law, may only be filed by the owner of the rights to a trademark which was registered earlier, or a person authorized by him, except when he had, within five years prior to filing the request for declaration of nullity, opposed the use of a trademark, which was subsequently registered and whose applicant acted in good faith.

3.                  In supplement to the proposal to declare the decision on the grant of a trademark or international registration with the effect in Bosnia and Herzegovina null and void the necessary evidence shall be filed.

4.                  The procedure for declaring the decision on the grant of a trademark null and void shall be regulated in greater detail by implementing provision.

Article 94

If the person requesting the declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of a trademark or the international registration with the effect in Bosnia and Herzegovina withdraws the request in the course of the procedure, the Institute may proceed ex officio, or on the request of the owner of the right.

3. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Article 97

Subject Matter of the Protection

1.                  Industrial design is a right which shall protect the appearance of the whole or a part of a product, which is new and the individual character of which is a result of special features of the lines, contours, color, shape or the material of the product itself or the ornaments thereof.

2.                  The term "product" shall mean any article manufactured by industry or handicraft, including parts intended to be assembled into a complex item, sets or compositions of items, packaging, fashion designs, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs or semi-conductor products.

Article 98

Novelty of Design

1.                  A product design shall be deemed new within the meaning of this Law, if it is not identical to any industrial design available to the public prior to the filing date of the application or if priority has been claimed, prior to the granted date of priority.

2.                  An industrial design shall be deemed to be identical if its specific features differ only in immaterial details or represent only a combination of known features.

3.                  The fact that the whole or a part of a product was made available to the public without author's consent no earlier than six months before the filing of the application, shall not be taken into consideration for the purposes of evaluating novelty.

Article 99

Grounds for Exclusion of Protection

1.                  An industrial design right shall not protect an industrial design which:

a)  is contrary to the public order and morality;

b)  contains or imitates a national coat or any other public coat of arms, a flag or an emblem, the name or abbreviated name of a country or international organization, or imitation thereof, unless with the consent of the competent authority of that country or organization;

2.                  An appearance of the whole or a part of a product, dictated exclusively by technical or functional considerations, may not be registered as industrial design.

3.                  The image or name of a person may be protected only with the consent of that person. The image or name of a deceased person may be protected only with the consent of the spouse and children of the deceased, and in their absence, with the consent of the parents of the deceased, and in the absence of parents, with the consent of other heirs, unless otherwise defined in a testimony. Permission of the competent authority is also required for protection of the image of a historical person or other deceased famous personality.

1. Entitlement to Industrial Design

Article 100

Author

1.                  In the procedure for granting the industrial design right, the person mentioned as such in the first correct application shall be deemed to be the author of the industrial  design,  except when  the  application  states  otherwise  or when a competent court rules otherwise.

2.                  If several authors have jointly created an industrial design, the right to industrial design shall belong to all authors.

3.                  A legal or natural person who is not an author is entitled to the protection of an industrial design by virtue of the law, legal business or inheritance.

2. Procedure for the Grant of Industrial Design Right

Article 101

Filing of the Application

1.                  The procedure for the grant of an industrial design right shall be initiated by a submission containing a request to the grant of industrial design right (hereinafter referred to as "the industrial design application") in accordance with this Law and in a manner defined in the implementing provision.

2.                  One application may contain a request for the grant of industrial design right for one or several (up to 100) appearances of the product or its parts, applicable to products classified under a single class of the international classification under the Lucerne Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs.

Article 102

Contents of the Application

1.                  Application shall contain:

a)  a request for the grant of an industrial design;

b)  name or title and address of the applicant;

c)  information on the author, or his declaration to the effect that he does not wish to be mentioned in the application;

d)  indication as to the individual or multiple application, and in the event of a multiple application, the indication of the total number of appearances protection is requested for;

e)  actual and concise title of the industrial design;

f)    two-dimensional   representation   of  the   subject   matter   of protection.

2.                  Contents and manner of drawing up the individual elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be more precisely defined in the implementing provision.

Article 103

Filing Date of the Application

1.                  For the accordance of the filing date to an industrial application, it shall be sufficient that on such a date the application filed with the Institute contains:

a)  request for the grant of an industrial design;

b)  name or the title and the address of the applicant.

2.                  The number of the application and the date of its receipt with the Institute shall be noted on the application which contains all the elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article and a receipt shall be issued on the request of the applicant to this effect.

3.                  If the application does not contain all elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Institute shall invite the applicant to remedy the deficiencies within the time limit prescribed in the implementing provision.

4.                  If the applicant remedies deficiencies within the time limit prescribed, the date of receipt of the corrected application shall be accorded as the date of filing of that application.

5.                  If it is established that an application which does not fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has been recorded in the register of applications, the Institute shall issue a decision on removing such application from the register.

Article 104

Subsequent Changes to the Application

It shall not be possible to substantially change the appearance of the whole or the part of product in an application which has been accorded a filing date.

Article 105

Examination of the Correctness of the Application

1.                  The application shall be deemed to be correct if it contains all elements referred to in Article 100 of this Law, evidence as to the effected payment of the fees and procedural  charges  and  other  enclosures  as  prescribed  in  the  implementing provision.

2.                  If it is established that the application is not correct, the Institute shall invite the applicant, in writing, to remedy deficiencies expressly indicated in the invitation within the time limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of receipt of the invitation.

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant the Institute shall extend the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for not more than 90 days from the date of expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  The priority of the first application shall be granted to all applications which have been corrected in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Article 106

Rejection of Application and Suspension of Procedure

1.                  If. within the prescribed time limit, the applicant does not comply with the invitation from the Institute, or fails to pay the fees and procedural charges, the  application shall be rejected by a decision.

2.                  If the applicant, in the course of procedure, declares in writing that he wishes to renounce his request, the procedure shall be suspended by a decision.

Article 107

Examination of the Conditions for the Grant of Rights

1.                  If the application is correct in accordance with Article 103 of this Law, the Institute shall examine whether conditions for the grant of an industrial design have been fulfilled.

2.                  The Institute shall not issue the decision on the refusal or the decision on the partial acceptance of the application if it has not previously notified the applicant in writing (with the examination results) about the reasons due to which the requested right cannot be granted, or cannot be granted to the requested scope, and if it has not invited the applicant to make a declaration thereon or submit a request for changes and amendments within a time limit not longer than 90 days.

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant, the Institute may extend the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for not more than 90 days from the date of expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  The Institute shall reject the request by decision if the applicant fails to make a declaration, or makes a declaration after which the Institute nevertheless considers that the industrial design cannot be granted.

5.                  The Institute shall issue decision on partial acceptance of the right if the applicant fails to make a declaration, or makes a declaration after which the Institute nevertheless considers that the rights can only be partially granted.

Article 108

Conversion of the Industrial Design Application into a Patent Application

1.                  Until the procedure concerning an application has been completed, the industrial design application may be converted into a patent application provided that the applicant pays the prescribed fees and procedural charges.

2.                  The patent application shall retain the filing date of the original industrial design application.

Article 109

Decision on the Grant of Industrial Design

1.                  If the application fulfils the requirements for the grant of rights, the Institute shall invite the applicant to pay fees and procedural charges for maintenance of rights and the procedural charges for the publication in the Official Gazette.

2.                  If the applicant, within the prescribed time limit fails to submit evidence of effected payments referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Institute shall reject the application by a decision.

3. Contents of the Industrial Design Rights and the Acquisition Thereof

Article 110

Exclusive rights

1.                  The holder of the industrial design shall have the right to prevent any third person not having his consent from manufacture, selling or importing any products which have the same appearance as or are incorporated in a product which is an imitation or substantially imitates the product, if such actions were done in commercial purposes.

2.                  The applicant shall also be entitled to the rights referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article as of the date of filing the application.

Article 111

Limitation of Exclusive Rights

1.                  The rights of the holder of industrial design referred to in Article 108 shall not extend to:

a)  acts concerning the use of the subject matter of industrial design done privately and for non-commercial purposes;

b)  the use for the purpose of informing the public or for the purpose of education, if this is in compliance with good business practices and shall not harm the interests of the industrial design holder;

c)  the use of the subject matter of protection on board vessels of other countries, in the body of the vessel, in the machinery, gear and other accessories, when they temporarily or accidentally enter the waters of Bosnia and Herzegovina, provided that such devices are used there exclusively for the needs of the vessel;

d)  the use of the subject matter of protection in the construction or operation of aircraft or land vehicles of other countries, or of accessories of such vehicles, when they temporarily or accidentally enter the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Article 112

Acquisition of Rights

1.                  An industrial design shall be acquired on the basis of a decision on the grant of industrial design, to the scope represented in the photograph or drawing, and with the entry of a industrial design into the register.

2.                  The  industrial  design  shall  be valid  as from  the  date  of the  filing of the application.

3.                  The date of entry of an industrial design into the register shall be identical to the date of issuing of the decision on the grant of industrial design.

Article 113

Duration of Rights

An industrial design right shall be valid 10 years counting from the filing date of the application.

Article 114

Expiration of Rights

1.                  An industrial design shall cease to be valid even before the expiration of the time limit referred to in Article 111 of this Law:

a)  upon the written declaration by the industrial design holder on the waiver of his rights, on the day following the day of filing the waiver to the Institute. This waiver shall have no legal effect if a specific right has been entered into the register in favor of third persons (license, right of lien etc.) and the industrial design holder had not previously obtained a written consent from those persons;

b)  pursuant to a decision of the court or the Institute, in those cases provided for by this Law on the date specified in such decision.

2.                  The expiration of an industrial design validity shall be entered in the register of industrial designs on the basis of the decision of the Institute and shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Article 115

Declaring the Decision on the Grant of an Industrial

Design Null and Void

1.                  The Institute shall declare the decision on the grant of an industrial design null and void if it establishes that the conditions for the grant of industrial design, defined by this Law have not been fulfilled at the time of issuing the decision.

2.                  The decision on the grant of an industrial design may be declared null and void during the whole term of the protection, ex officio, on the request of an interested party, or on the request of the state attorney.

3.                  In supplement to the proposal to declare the decision on the grant of an industrial design right null and void the necessary evidence shall be filed.

4.                  The procedure for declaring the decision on the grant of a trademark null and void shall be more precisely defined in the implementing provision.

5.                  If the person requesting the declaration of nullity of the decision on the grant of an industrial design withdraws the request in the course of the procedure, the Institute may proceed ex officio or on request of the owner of right.

4. GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 116

Subject Matter of Protection

1.                  An indication which identifies a good as originating in a territory, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin, shall be registered as a geographical indication.

2.                  The name of a good which has become generally known through long-term use in the course of trade as an indication that the good originates from a certain location or region, is also eligible for registration as a geographical indication.

3.                  Geographical indication may also be used for designating of natural products, including agricultural, industrial and handicraft products.

Article 117

Grounds for Exclusion of Registration

1.                  Geographical indication shall not be registered for:

a)  indications which would indicate a good as originating from a specific geographical area, which is other than the true place of origin, in a way which misleads the public as to its geographic origin;

b)  indications which have through its long-term use in the course of trade become generally known as designations for certain kinds of products

Article 118

Prohibition of Conversion of Geographical Indications into Generic Names

Geographical indication shall not become generic names or common names the use of which in the course of trade would be unrestricted.

1. Procedure for the Registration of Geographical Indication

Article 119

Filing of the Application

1.                  The  Institute  shall  register  a  geographical  indication  on  the  basis  of  an application, which may he filed by associations of legal or natural persons, chambers, municipalities, larger local communities or State authorities.

2.                  The application under paragraph (1) shall be filed together with the regulations including in particular:

a)  indication to be registered by the geographical indication, including its appearance if the indication contains, beside a word or words, also pictures, sketches, vignettes, colors and the like;

b)  indication of the good to which that geographical indication relates;

c)  indication  of  location  or  region  in  which  the  goods  originate,  and characteristics of the goods proposed to be covered by the geographical indication;

d)  provisions on the manner in which the goods are used and further requirements for marking goods with a geographical indication which the users should satisfy;

a)  other data if so request implementing provision.

3.                  Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article shall not apply to geographical indications which have been protected by virtue of other regulations.

Article 120

Filing Date of the Application

1.                  For the accordance of the filing date to an application, it shall be sufficient that on such a date the application filed with the Institute contains:

a)  a request for registration of the geographical indication;

b)  the name or the title and the address of the applicant;

c)  appearance of the geographical indication;

d)  kind of goods which is designated with a geographical indication or name.

2.                  The number of the application and the date of its receipt with the Institute shall be noted on the application which contains all the elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article and a receipt shall be issued on the request of the applicant to this effect.

3.                  If the application does not contain all elements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Institute shall invite the applicant to remedy the deficiencies within the lime limit prescribed in the implementing Regulations.

4.                  If the applicant remedies deficiencies within the time limit prescribed, the date of receipt of the corrected application shall be accorded as the date of filing of that application.

5.                  If it is established that an application which does not fulfill the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has been recorded in the register of applications, the Institute shall issue a decision on removing such application from the register.

Article 121

Examination of the Correctness of the Application

1.                  The application shall be deemed to be correct if it contains all elements referred to in Articles 1 19 and 120 of this Law, evidence as to the effected payment of the fees  and  procedural  charges  and  other  enclosures  as  prescribed  in  the implementing Regulations.

2.                  If it establishes that the application is not correct, the Institute shall invite the applicant, in writing, to remedy deficiencies expressly indicated in the invitation within the lime limit which shall not exceed 90 days as from the date of receipt of the invitation.

3.                  On the reasoned request of the applicant the Institute shall extend the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article for not more than 90 days from the date of expiration of the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

Article 122

Rejection of Application and Suspension of Procedure

1.                  If, within the prescribed time limit, the applicant does not comply with the invitation from the Institute, or fails to pay the fees and procedural charges, the application shall be rejected by a decision.

2.                  If the applicant, in the course of procedure, declares in writing that he wishes to renounce his request, the procedure shall be suspended by a decision.

Article 123

Entry of the Geographical Indication in the Register

1.                  The Institute shall issue a decision on registration of a geographical indication, which shall be entered in the register of geographical indications.

2.                  The Institute shall publish the registered geographical indications in the Official Gazette.

3.                  The maintenance of the validity of a geographical indication shall not be subject to the payment of fees.

2. Rights Conferred by a Geographical Indication

Article 124

Right of Use

1.                  A registered geographical indication is a collective right and may be used as such only by those who produce or market the goods in accordance with the Regulations under paragraph (2) of Article 117 of this Law.

2.                  The user of geographical indication shall have the right to use such indication in the course of trade for designating goods lo which a geographical indication relates.

Article 125

Unauthorized use of the geographical indication

1.                  The use of a geographical indication by unauthorized persons shall be prohibited:

a)  when the goods do not originate in the place indicated by the geographical indication, even if the true origin of the goods is indicated,

b)  the geographical indication is used in translation, or the geographical indication  is  accompanied  by  expressions  such  as  "type",  "style", "imitation" or the like.

2.                  The right referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article also comprises the use of geographical indication on packaging, in catalogues, brochures, advertisements and other forms of offer, in instructions, invoices, correspondence and other forms of business documentation, as well as the importation and exportation of goods designated with that geographical indication.

Article 126

Duration of Rights

The term of a registered geographical indication shall be unlimited unless it has been deleted from the register upon the request of competent authorities.

III - REGISTERS AND THE MAINTENANCE OF RIGHTS

Article 127

Entry into Register

The date of publication of a patent application or the date of issuance of a decision on the

grant of industrial design, trademark or registration of geographical indication shall be

considered us the date of entry in the register.

Article 128

Certificate on the Granted Right and the Patent File

1.                  After the entry of the granted right in the register and payment of an issuance fee, the Institute shall issue the certificate which shall contain: data on the right, owner of the right, entry in the register, publication and dale of the decision on granting or registration of the rights, and other data prescribed by the implementing provisions.

2.                  The patent or the short-term patent owner shall be issued the Patent file by the Institute upon entry of the patent or a short-term patent in the register and payment of issuance fee.

Article 129

Publication of the Granted Right

1.                  Granted rights which were entered in corresponding registers shall be published in the Official Gazette.

2.                  Patent publication shall comprise the publication of patent claims, characteristic drawing if it exists, bibliographic data, and other data which shall be defined in the implementing provisions.

Article 130

Entry of Changes in the Register

1.                  Upon request of the applicant or the owner of the right, the Institute shall enter, in corresponding registers, all subsequent changes regarding a right or the owner of a right, such as transfer, contractual license, right of lien and levy of execution, changes to the name or company name or address or the seat of the owner, as well as other changes which occurred after the filing of the application provided that provided that they correspond to the real situation which shall be proved by an appropriate document.

2.                  The Institute shall, ex officio, enter in the register referred to in paragraph (1) of this  Article  the  information  on  nullity,  cancellation  of marks,  compulsory licenses, and other information on legally binding court decisions.

3.                  Entry of changes in the register and publication of data in the Official Gazette shall be subject to payment of fees and procedural charges. If the fees and procedural charges are not paid, it shall be deemed that the applicant has withdrawn the request.

4.                  Data on the registered change shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Article 131

Maintenance of Rights

1.                  The maintenance of rights shall be subject to the payment of prescribed fees and procedural charges:

a)  in respect of patents: for every year, during the last year of validity;

b)  in respect of marks: for each ten years, during the last year of validity;

c)  in respect of industrial designs, for the ten years of validity.

2.                  If the fees and procedural charges for maintenance referred to in paragraph (1) of this article are not paid within the lime limit laid down in paragraph (1), they may still be paid within six months after the date of expiration of the time limit laid down in paragraph (1) provided that the fees and procedural charges are paid together with the 50% surcharge for late payment;

3.                  If the lees and procedural charges are not paid in due time within the grace period referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article, granted rights shall expire on the day following the expiry date of the regular time limit for payment of fees and procedural charges for maintenance of the validity of rights.

IV - TRANSFER AND ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS

Article 132

Assignment of Rights

1.                  The owner of a patent, trademark or industrial design may, subject to the conditions provided for by this Law and other regulations, assign his right, entirely or partially, to another person.

2.                  The provision of paragraph (1) shall also apply to the applicant.

3.                  Written form shall be required for validity of the assignment of rights. The assignment shall be legally binding on the third persons acting in good faith as from the moment of the entry thereof in the register.

4.                  Actions foreseen by this Law may until the assignment of rights has been entered in the register be filed against the current owner of the right.

5.                  Unless otherwise provided for, a trademark shall be assigned together with the transfer of the company.

6.                  The entry of the assignment of rights shall be made on the request of one of the parties to the assignment and shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Institute.

7.                  A collective mark and a geographical indication may not be subject to assignment of rights.

Article 133

Licenses

1.                  The contractual licensing of patents, industrial designs or of the use of trademarks shall be effected through concluding license agreements in accordance with this Law and other regulations.

2.                  The provision of paragraph (1) shall also apply to applicants.

3.                  If the application for a patent or industrial design is filed by more than one person. or if the patent or industrial design is granted to more than one person, the consent of all those persons shall be required for the licensing agreement.

4.                  A collective mark and a geographical indication may not be the subject of a license agreement.

5.                  Any provision of a license agreement which impose upon the licensee limitations which do not ensue from the right which is the subject of the agreement, and are unnecessary for realization of that right, shall be null and void.

6.                  License agreements shall be entered in the register at the request of one of the contracting parties.

7.                  A license agreement which is not entered in the register shall not be legally binding on third parties.

Article 134

Compulsory license

1.                  The court in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be exclusively competent, and may grant a compulsory license, on the request of any interested person, if the patent owner doesn't exploit the protected invention, or exploits it to the extent which is insufficient to satisfy the needs of the domestic market, and refuses to conclude a license contract or sets forth unjustifiable terms for the conclusion of such a contract.

2.                  A request for the grant of a compulsory license may be filed after the expiation of the period of 4 years as from the filing date of the application, or after the expiration of the period of 3 years as from the date of the patent grant, whichever occurs later.

3.                  If the exploitation of a protected invention is of public interest (health, defense, protection and improvement of the human environment) or of a special interest for a particular branch of economy, the compulsory license may be granted even before the expiration of the terms referred to in paragraph (2) of this Article.

4.                  A compulsory license shall not be granted if the patent owner proves the existence of the legitimate reasons justifying the non-exploitation or insufficient exploitation of the protected invention.

5.                  In the case of the grant of a compulsory license, the patent owner shall be entitled to a remuneration, corresponding to the economic value of the license which shall be determined by the court decision referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.

Article 135

The Purpose of Compulsory License

1.                  A compulsory license shall be granted for the purposes of supplying the domestic market. It shall not be exclusive and the duration thereof is connected exclusively with the duration of reasons it has been granted for.

2.                  A compulsory license shall not be transferred without the production plant or the purl thereof respectively, in which the invention it is granted for has been exploited.

V - LEGAL PROTECTION

1. Protection of Rights

Article 136

Responsibility

1.                  Owner of exclusive industrial property rights may request:

a)  that the person unjustly using his rights be enjoined from present and future infringing acts;

b)  that the infringer removes the consequences arising from the infringement, and in particular remove the means and objects of the infringement;

c)  that the means and objects of the infringement be destroyed;

d)  that the judgment be published at the expense of the infringer in public media to the extent and in the manner determined by the court.

2.                  Persons infringing exclusive industrial property rights shall return to the owner any unjustly obtained benefits, or shall be liable for any damages in accordance with general regulations governing compensation for damages.

3.                  The owner may demand monetary compensation referred to in paragraph (2) as:

-     profits obtained by the infringer through infringement of rights;

-     profits lost by the owner of rights due to the infringement;

-     the amount he would have obtained if he had allowed the exploitation of the good to a third party in return for payment.

4.                  If the subject of the infringement is a published patent application filed abroad in accordance with paragraph (3) of Article 5 of this Law, the owner may not request, for the period from the publication to the grant of the patent, compensation under paragraphs (2) or (3), but shall be entitled to demand fair compensation.

Article 137

Infringement of Rights

1.                  Any unauthorized use of the protected invention, shape of product or its part in production and in the course of trade, or protected mark or geographical indication in the course of trade, and unjust disposal of patent, industrial design, trademark or geographical indication shall be treated as an infringement of the industrial property rights.

2.                  If the subject of the infringement is a patent protecting the process for producing new substances, each substance which is of an identical composition or identical, shall be deemed to have been made under the protected process, until proved otherwise. The burden of proof shall be borne by the person producing the substances, wherein his legal interest in protecting commercial secrecy must be respected.

3.                  The imitation of industrial design, trademark or a geographical indication shall be treated as the infringement thereof as well.

4.                  The imitation shall be deemed lo exist within the meaning of paragraph (3) of this Article, if the average consumer of goods or an average user of service, regardless of the kind of goods and services, can notice the difference only when he pays special attention, or when the trademark or the sign represents the translation or the transliteration of a mark.

Article 138

Actions Following Infringements of Rights

1.                  Actions following infringements of rights from Articles 54, 84, 108 and paragraph (2) of Article 122 of this Law may be filed by the applicant, the owner of the right, person entitled to use a geographical indication and persons obtaining exclusive rights.

2.                  Action following the use of a sign in violation of Article 8 and 9, paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of Article 72 of this Law may also be filed by the authority responsible for issuing permissions or by the person who gives consent to use such sign.

3.                  If the action refers to infringements of provisional rights conferred by a patent, the court shall interrupt proceedings until the Institute issues one of the decisions under Article 44 of this Law.

Article 139

Time Limit for Filing Actions

1.                  An action for infringement of industrial property rights may be filed within three years from the date on which it was learned of the infringement and the infringer.

2.                  No action may be filed after expiration of five years from the date of the infringement.

Article 140

Expeditious Procedure

1. The procedure concerning an action for infringement of industrial property rights shall be expeditious.

Article 141

Provisional Measures and Preservation of Evidence

1.                  The court may, upon the request of applicant, adopt provisional measures to prevent the infringement of rights, in particular lo prevent the entry into the market of goods, including imported goods, immediately after customs clearance and to preserve relevant evidence in regard lo the alleged infringement.

2.                  The court may adopt provisional measures and preserve the evidence without hearing the opposite party, in particular where any delay is likely to cause irreparable damage to the owner of the right, or where there is a risk of evidence being destroyed. The parties shall he given notice on the provisional measures adopted without hearing after the execution of the measures at the latest.

3.                  The request for the adoption of provisional measures and the preservation of evidence shall contain proofs, showing in the first place, with a sufficient degree of certainty that the person filing the request is the owner of the right and that his right is being infringed or that such infringement is imminent.

4.                  The court may require from the person filing the request the deposit, as the security.

5.                  Proceedings shall be expeditious.

6.                  If the person filing the request does not file an action within the period of thirty- one calendar days, the court may. upon request by the defendant, terminate the proceedings, revoke the performed acts and order the applicant to compensate any damages which resulted from the application of these measures (Article 50 of TRIPS Agreement).

7.                  The provisions of the law on execution procedure and the law on civil procedure shall apply for the adoption of provisional measures and the preservation of evidence, unless otherwise provided by this law.

2. Contesting the right to a patent, industrial design or mark

Article 142

Contesting the right to a patent or industrial design

1.                  An inventor, his heir or other successor in title may request, at any time during the validity of a patent, through an action at a competent court to be declared owner of the patent if the patent has been issued in the name of a person who is not the inventor, his heir or other successor in title.

2.                  The author of an industrial design, his heir or other successor in title may file an action at a competent court requesting that an existing right in an industrial design be revoked and that he be declared owner of that right, if the right was registered to a person who is not the author, heir or other successor in title.

Article 143

Contesting the right to a mark

1.                  Legal or natural persons which, in the course of trade, for marking of goods or services use a sign. which another person has registered to its name for marking of the identical or similar goods or services, may file an action at a competent court requesting the court to issue a decision declaring the plaintiff to be the owner of the mark. if he proves that sign in question was generally known as the sign for designation of his goods or services before the defendant filed his mark application.

2.                  The court shall rule against the request referred to paragraph (1) if the defendant proves that he had used the identical or similar sign for designating the same or similar goods or services in trade for as long as or longer than the plaintiff.

3.                  The action referred to in paragraph (1) may not be filed after expiration of five years from the date of registration of the mark.

Article 144

Entry in Register pursuant to Court Decision

1.                  Within three months after the receipt of a legally binding court decision that rules favorably on the actions referred to in Articles 140 and 141 of this Law, the plaintiff may request to be registered as the owner of the patent, industrial design or mark and to be issued a certificate to that effect.

2.                  If the successful plaintiff does not submit a request to be entered in the register as the owner of the right within the time limit referred to in paragraph (1), the registered right shall be deleted from the register.

3.                  The Court shall forward its decision to the Institute.

Article 145

Validity of Rights Acquired From the Former Owner

Any rights a third person has acquired from the former owner mentioned in Article 144 of this Law shall be binding on the new owner if entered in the corresponding register or if correctly applied for the entry before the action was filed.

3. Lawsuit for Recognition of Authorship

Article 146

Action for Recognition of Authorship

1.                  An inventor or industrial design author may. by filing an action at a competent court, request to be named in the application and in all documents, in accordance with paragraph (3) of Article 3 of this Law.

2.                  The plaintiff mat also request that a legally binding court decision issued in the action for recognition of authorship be published at the defendant's expense. An inventor or author may also demand compensation for moral damages.

3.                  The action may be filed at any time during the validity of the patent or industrial design.

4.                  Should the inventor or author die. the right to file an action shall pass to his heirs.

VI - MEASURES TAKEN BY CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES

Article 147

Measures Taken by Customs Authorities

1.                  If the owner of the industrial property right proves that it is likely that his exclusive rights would be infringed through the importation of specific goods into the country, the customs authorities may, at his proposal, order:

a)  that the owner of the right or his representative may inspect the goods;

b)  that the goods be seized, excluded from trade or destroyed.

2.                  The owner of the right shall in the proposal referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article provide a detailed description of the goods and sufficient proof on his exclusive right and its likely infringement. At the request of the customs authorities, the rightful claimant shall lodge a deposit for possible damage arising from these measures.

3.                  The customs authorities shall inform the importer and recipient of goods without delay of measures taken. The customs authorities shall revoke the measures if the rightful claimant fails within seven days to file an action or initiate another procedure to justify the measures taken.

4.                  Detailed provisions on the proceedings before customs authorities shall be defined in the special regulations.

VII - PENAL PROVISIONS

Article 148

Misdemeanors

1.                  A fine amounting from 1,000 KM to 100,000 KM shall be imposed on legal persons who:

a)  use signs without the consent of the relevant State or other authority (Article 72, subparagraphs h) and i));

b)  publish a secret invention or file an application abroad without the consent of the Ministry competent for defense or the interior (Articles 48 and 52 of this Law);

c)   represent legal or natural persons without being entered in the appropriate register referred to in Article 14 and Article 16 of this Law.

d)  without an authorization granted, put on goods or services the sign (R) or any other sign so as to inform others in the course of trade that his trademark is registered.

2.                  A fine amounting from 100 KM to 5,000 KM shall be imposed on the person responsible within the legal person.

3.                  A fine of no more than 1,500 KM  shall be imposed on a natural person for offences referred to in paragraph (1), subparagraphs a), b) or d) of this Article.

Article 149

Offences

1.                  Any person who files a patent application without prior authorization or fails to name the inventor or gives inventor's false name or makes the content of the invention available for public before the invention is published in the manner prescribed by the law, shall be fined or sentenced to up to three years in prison.

2.                  Any person who manufactures, imports, offers, sells, stocks or uses a product or procedure granted patent protection, shall be fined or sentenced to up to three years in prison.

3.                  If the commitment of the offences referred to in paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of this Article resulted in the acquisition of financial gain or in great damage, with the perpetrator acting with a goal of acquiring financial gain or causing great damage, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to a period ranging from six months to five years in prison.

4.                  Articles that were intended or used for the commitment of the offence or that were created in the process of the commitment of the offence referred to in paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) of this Article shall be seized and destroyed.

5.                  Any person who violates provisions of this Law and infringes on another person's trademark, industrial design or geographical indication shall be fined or sentenced to up to three years in prison.

6.                  The sentence referred to in paragraph (5) of this Article shall apply to any person who, without prior authorization, manufactures, imports, offers, sells, stocks or uses a product that is the subject matter of protection referred to in paragraph (5) of this Article.

7.                  Any person who, without authorization, uses the name of another person's firm or incorporates another person's distinctive signs or signs referred to in the paragraph (5) of this Article into his title shall be fined or sentenced to up to three years in prison.

8.                  If the commitment of the offences referred to in paragraph (5) and paragraph (6) of this Article resulted in the acquisition of financial gain or in great damage, with the perpetrator acting with a goal of acquiring financial gain or causing great damage, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to a period lasting from six months to five years in prison.

9.                  Articles intended or used for the commitment of the offence or were created in the process of the commitment of the offence referred to in paragraph (5) shall be seized and destroyed.

10.             The amount of fines referred to in this Article shall be determined on an individual basis in accordance with the provisions regulating these matters.

Article 150

Competence for Conduct of Procedure

1.  Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be competent for conduct of procedures for offences defined by this Law as well as for issuing decisions in the second instance.

2.  Courts of entities shall be competent for conduct of procedures for misdemeanors defined by this Law.

Article 151

Payment of Monies

Monies collected from fines paid for misdemeanors referred to in Article 148 of this Law shall be transferred to the accounts of entities, whereas money collected from fines paid for offences referred to in Article 149 of this Law shall be transferred to the Budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

VIII - TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 152

Rights Granted Before This Law Entered Into Force

1.                  All industrial property rights entered in the registers of rights with the Institute by the day designated for the start of the application of this Law shall remain in force and they will be subject to provisions of this Law.

2.                  All industrial property rights entered in the registers of rights with institutions of the entities by the day designated for the start of the application of this Law shall be subject to reexamination by the Institute. The Institute shall conduct the examination in accordance to international regulations and make decisions on recognizing the rights in accordance with this Law.

3.                  Entity institutions shall transfer to the Institute, ex officio, pending requests which are in the procedure for the grant of industrial property rights. The institute shall deal with the requests in accordance with this Law.

Article 153

Pending Procedures for the Grant of Industrial Property Rights

1.  Provisions of this Law shall also apply to pending procedures for the grant of industrial property rights submitted before the Institute from March 1, 1992 to the day designated for the application of this Law.

2.                  The pending procedures concerning the infringement of the rights stipulated by this Law, shall be carried out in compliance with the provisions which were in force up to the day the application of this Law shall start.

3.                  Pending procedures filed with the Institute, before this Law has entered into force, concerning the grant of patent rights on protection of substances as medicine for humans and animals shall be rejected.  The use of substances as medicine for humans and animals shall not be deemed to constitute infringement of a patent for such substances if the corresponding patent application was filed on or before this Law has entered into force.

Article 154

Industrial Property Rights Granted by Decisions of the Federal Institute for Patents of the former SFRY until March 1, 1992

1.                  Industrial property rights granted by decisions of the Federal Institute for Patents of the former SFRY until March 1, 1992, whose administrative procedure has been completed before the Institute, or in accordance with Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) shall remain in force and shall be subject to provisions of this Law.

2.                  Provisions of this Law shall apply in the procedures concerning applications for entering into register the industrial property rights granted by decisions of the Federal Institute for Patents of the former SFRY before March 1, 1992 if the administrative procedure before the Institute has not been completed by the day as of which this Law shall be applied.

Article 155

Applications for the grant of rights submitted to the Federal Institute for Patents of the former SFRY whose administrative procedure has not been completed by March 1, 1992

Provisions of this Law shall apply in the procedure related to applications for the grant of industrial property rights, with request for the grant of priority right, instituted with Federal Institute for Patents of the former SFRY which did not go through complete administrative procedure by March 1, 1992.

Article 156

Implementing Provisions Enacted by the Director of the Institute

The Director of the Institute shall issue the implementing provisions within six months as of the date of entry into force of this Law.

Article 157

Cessation of the Validity of Other Provisions

1.                  On the day this law comes into force, the provisions of the Law on Patents and Distinctive Signs ("Official Gazette of RB&H," nos. 21/93 and 13/94) shall cease to be valid with the exception of the provisions on inventions and new shapes of products, pictures and drawings effected in an enterprise (Articles 108 to 117), and the provisions on technical advancements (Articles 118 to 125) which shall be applied until appropriate provisions are adopted.

2.                  On the day this law comes into force the following provisions shall cease to be valid of the Federal regulations adopted by the Law on Adoption and Application of Federal Laws which in Bosnia and Herzegovina are applied as Republican laws ("Official Gazette of RB&H," nos. 2/92 and 13/94): Statute on the procedure for recognition of patents ("Official Gazette of SFRY," no. 62/91), Statute on the procedure for the grant of model and design rights ("Official Gazette of SFRY," no. 9/91), the provisions of Articles 41 to 45 of the Statute on regulation in a greater detail of issues related to the procedure for the grant of rights which protect inventions and distinctive signs ("Official Gazette of SFRY," nos. 35/82 and 9/91).

3.                  On the day this law comes into force the following laws shall also cease to be valid: Patent Law ("Official Gazette of RS," no 36/99), Trademark Law ("Official Gazette of RS," no. 36/99), Law on Geographical Indications of Origin ("Official Gazette of RS," no. 36/99), and the provisions of the Law on Administrative Fees ("Official Gazette of RS," nos. 8/94 and 10/98), which regulate industrial property matters, as well as all sub-Acts passed on the strength of the aforementioned laws.

Article 158

Entry Into Force and Implementation of the Law

1.                  This Law shall enter into force on the eighth day following its publication in the "Official Gazette of B&H" and shall be applied within six months as of the date of its entry into force.

2.                  This Law shall also be published in official gazettes of the entities and Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PA BiH no. 13/02 17. January 2002. Sarajevo

Chairman of the House of Representatives BiH Parliamentary Assembly Željko Mirjanić, Dr.

Chairman of the House of Peoples BiH Parliamentary Assembly Sejfudin Tokić, s. r.