European Commission (EC) Report: BiH moderately prepared in the area of intellectual property law

Mostar, October 13, 2022 - Bosnia and Herzegovina is moderately prepared in the area of intellectual property law, and it is necessary to make significant efforts to harmonize legislation, and especially to improve enforcement and coordination, is the assessment of the European Commission in the annual report on progress in the process of European integration .

In the coming year, Bosnia and Herzegovina should in particular: implement the strategy on enforcement of intellectual property rights, amend the Law on Patents, increase coordination and capacities of policy-making institutions to enforce intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights, it is stated in the part of the report under Chapter 7 - Intellectual property law.

The legal framework on copyright and related rights is largely aligned with the acquis of the European Union. As regards industrial property rights, the legislative framework is partially aligned. "Bosnia and Herzegovina has acceded to the relevant multilateral conventions, as required by the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), except for the European Patent Convention, for which it still needs to adopt relevant amendments to the Law on Patents," the report states.

The administrative and judicial capacity of the enforcement institutions is insufficient and their coordination needs to increase, according to the assessment of the European Commission.

Interagency Co-operation Body for the Acquisition and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina (MTS) held two sessions in the past period and, among other things, adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of measures from the Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018-2022. This body grounds its work on the measures and recommendations given in the Development Strategy of the Institute for Intellectual Property of BiH, as well as in the Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in BiH, which represents the basis for defining and establishing a complete and efficient system for the enforcement of intellectual property rights in accordance with the requirements of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the European Union (EU).

Regarding the amendment of the Law on Patents, the Council of Ministers of BiH referred to the proposal of the Institute for Intellectual Property of BiH to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Patents, which would fully harmonize that law with the current acquis of the EU and fulfill the obligation from the Stabilization and Association Agreement.