Final conference of the project "EU Support to Intellectual Property Rights in BiH" held

Mostar, October 24, 2024 – The final conference of the project "EU Support to Intellectual Property Rights in BiH" was held on Thursday, October 24, 2024 in Mostar, which was attended by representatives of the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the project team, as well as key partners, to mark the successes of this project.
The project "EU Support to Intellectual Property Rights in BiH", funded by the European Union with 1.8 million euros, has been successfully completed after three years of dedicated work on strengthening all aspects of intellectual property in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since its inception in October 2021, the project "EU Support to Intellectual Property Rights in BiH" has been working together with the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of improving the legal framework for the protection of intellectual property in accordance with European standards, with a special focus on improving legislation in BiH, including the protection of copyright and related rights, patents, trademarks, design, geographical indication and trade secret as an intellectual property right. The project, whose completion marks significant progress in strengthening BiH's capacity to protect domestic innovations and intellectual property at the international level, has achieved significant results during its three-year duration.
With the aim of harmonization with the EU acquis, nine laws and 11 related bylaws have been prepared, which, after adoption, will harmonize the legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with EU standards.
Within the framework of capacity building, over 150 law enforcement officers, including police officers, customs officers and market inspectors, have been trained, and more than 40 employees of the Institute of Intellectual Property have completed various trainings, 5 of which are trained to provide IP pre-diagnostic services.
With the aim of raising public awareness, an extensive awareness campaign on the importance of intellectual property was organized, which included seminars, public events and media appearances to increase understanding about intellectual property rights among all interested parties, as well as citizens of BiH.
Josip Merdžo, Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said on this occasion that the support of the EU project was extremely significant. "The realization of this project came as a consequence of the fact that the field of intellectual property was quite well regulated so far, so the EU Delegation recognized that it would be good to further improve this dynamic area. We have become beneficiaries of a project led by international consortia, where the goal is to harmonize the entire legal regulation covering intellectual property rights, i.e. harmonization with the provisions and directives of the EU. Part of the project was also work on nine laws and all bylaws arising from them. When the laws are adopted, Bosnia and Herzegovina will get perhaps the most harmonized segment of legislation in the field of intellectual property", concluded Director Merdžo, adding that the main goal was to protect the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina and protect the rights of all holders of intellectual property rights in our country.
"We are proud of the results achieved through this cooperation. Over the past three years, we have worked tirelessly to establish a comprehensive framework that not only harmonizes the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the EU, but also strengthens institutional capacities and public understanding of intellectual property rights", said Miodrag Marković, project team leader, adding that this project is an indicator of how targeted activities and cooperation can lead to significant progress in intellectual property protection.
During the project "EU Support to Intellectual Property Rights in BiH", nine laws in the field of intellectual property were prepared, as well as 11 bylaws necessary for their implementation. Nine tailor-made trainings were held for key institutions with 155 participants, including police officers, inspectors and customs officers, as well as specialized trainings and study visits for the staff of the Institute for Intellectual Property. The public outreach of the project included awareness-raising campaigns, media interviews and trade show appearances, with a total of 678 participants in seminars and events. Also, over 130 small and medium-sized enterprises were engaged, while pre-diagnostics of certain areas of intellectual property rights protection were carried out for 14 of them. The project also included the distribution of educational materials, including guides and promotional leaflets in a total circulation of 1,200 copies.