Regional School of Public Administration (Phase 2)
This programme is financed by the European Commission
Seminar
The impact of EU policies to domestic policies
Intellectual Property Rights (Trade Marks and Designs)
organised by the European Centre for Judges and Lawyers, EIPA Antenna in Luxemburg
Zagreb (Republic of Croatia), 15-17 April 2009
DRAFT PROGRAMME
Background
The 2009 rankings on the International Property Rights Index demonstrate that the protection of
property rights (including intellectual property rights) still remains a challenge for most of the
Balkans. While it is clear that all the countries in the Western Balkans are aware of the
importance of the sector of intellectual property rights and have initiated measures to ensure that
those rights are respected, sustained efforts are needed in order to improve implementation and
enforcement. In other words, in general these countries have approximated their laws in order to
comply with European and international standards but, in order to meet these standards to the
utmost extent in the process of full compliance with EU accession requirements, their officials
require training in the application and enforcement of their national intellectual property laws as
preparation for the increasing number of cases with which they will be faced in this area.
Accordingly, EIPA Luxembourg – in cooperation with the Regional School of Public Administration
(ReSPA) – has developed this activity on the law as well as administrative structures and
procedures of trade marks and designs.
Aims and objectives
The overall aim of this seminar is to provide the participants with an understanding of their own
national laws, structures and procedures in the field of trade marks and designs in the light of the
international and European trade mark and design regime, and in particular practical methods and
tools of relevance to their respective roles. Thus, the specific objectives are, first, to examine
relevant international agreements and European legislation in this area; second, to compare
implementing laws, structures and procedures in the various ReSPA countries as well as in a
Member State of the EU; and third, to discuss good practices and lessons to be drawn from the
different systems.
Methodology
A combination of presentations, discussions and case studies based on a comparative approach
to the subject, with particular emphasis on participant interventions and multilateral exchanges of
information.
Date
15-17 April 2009
Duration
2 ½ days
Target group
Civil servants from the Ministries of Trade and Justice and agencies dealing with registration and
control of intellectual property rights as well as national competition authorities of the ReSPA
partners.
Location
Zagreb, Croatia
Trainers
William BULL
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ, Serbian expert
Expert from EU Member State (to be named)
2
WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2009
08.45
Arrival and Registration
09.00
Welcome and Mutual Introduction
- Presentation of ReSPA, EIPA and the European Centre for Judges and
Lawyers
- Presentation of programme (including objectives and methodology) and
speakers
- Individual presentation of participants, including their interests and
expectations
William BULL, Programme Leader, Researcher, European Centre for Judges &
Lawyers, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), Luxembourg
Participants
10.15
Coffee break
PART ONE - SETTING THE SCENE
10.30
Why are we here?: Intellectual Property Rights – the rationale
This session will provide an overview of the global economic ethics of and
overarching aims pursued by intellectual property law, as well as the specific
rationale behind trade mark and design law. In particular, the importance of
intellectual property for social and economic prosperity will be demonstrated, as
seen from the point of view of both business and the consumer. It will be seen
that intellectual property law seeks to strike a balance between competing
interests, and this will be illustrated with reference to various international
conventions and European legislation.
William BULL
12.00
Lunch
13.00
Setting the Scene – Part I: Introducing the Trade Mark
Taking as its starting point the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property (and the TRIPS Agreement), the Madrid Agreement and Protocol
concerning the International Registration of Marks (including recent reforms) and
the Community Trade Mark Regulation/Trade Mark Directive, this session will
familiarize the participants with the international and European trade mark regime,
including the principal rights and obligations flowing from these instruments, as
well as fundamental concepts and common terminology in the area of trade mark
law.
William BULL
14.30
Coffee break
14.45
Setting the Scene – Part II: Introducing the Design
Taking as its starting point provisions of various international agreements and
European legislation, particularly the Community Design Regulation/Directive on
the Legal Protection of Designs, this session will familiarize the participants with
the international and European design regime, including the principal rights and
obligations flowing from these instruments, as well as fundamental concepts and
common terminology in the area of design law.
William BULL
16.00
End of the day’s proceedings
3
THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2009
PART TWO: TRADE M ARK AND DESIGN RIGHTS IN CONTEXT
09.00
A Comparative Overview – Part I: National Trade Mark and Design Laws in
the Western Balkans
Following on from the presentation of international instruments on the previous
day, in this session the focus will shift to national trade mark and design law. In
particular, this presentation will examine the approximation of substantive national
laws in the ReSPA countries to the European and international regimes, including
any noteworthy similarities and differences, in order to demonstrate the (legal)
perspectives of and parallelism between these national systems. The
presentation will conclude with Q&A.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ, Serbian expert
10.45
Coffee break
11.00
A Comparative Overview – Part II: Administrative Institutions, Structures
and Procedures
In this session the trainer and the participants will discuss the main administrative
bodies in the different ReSPA countries charged with the task of granting trade
mark and design rights, as well as the structures within which they operate. In
turn, an overview will be given of the different administrative procedures for (both
formal and substantive) registration of, opposition to and appeal against such
rights. This will provide an insight into the systemic framework underpinning the
law of trade mark and design, and thereby illustrate how the rights contained
therein are created.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ and Participants
12.30
Lunch
13.30
A Comparative Overview – Part III: The Judicial System
Having a range of sophisticated trade mark and design rights is of course futile in
the absence of enforcement, in particular through actions for infringement.
Therefore, as a continuation of the prior session, this presentation will look at the
judicial role and court procedures relating to the application and enforcement of
trade mark and design rights in the various ReSPA countries. Special attention
will be paid to the grounds for infringement actions (i.e. types of conduct which
qualify), the interpretation of trade mark and design claims (in particular the
connection between trade marks and designs, and the possibility of dual
protection of the latter) and possible defences/ counter-claims for revocation.
Finally, appropriate remedies (damages, account of profits, delivery up etc.) will
also be considered.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ
15.00
Coffee break
15.15
A Comparative Overview – Part IV: Perspectives from a Member State
To conclude the comparative analysis pursued thus far, a national expert from
one of the current 27 EU Member States will explain the general approach to
trade mark and design rights in their country, and compare and contrast this with
that of the ReSPA countries discussed in the preceding sessions. The aim will be
to exchange views on and propose practices or solutions in this area derived from
the experience of another Member State of potential interest and importance to
the ReSPA members.
National expert (to be named) and Participants
16.45
End of the day’s proceedings
4
FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2009
PART THREE: TRADE M ARK AND DESIGN RIGHTS IN ACTION
09.00
Trade Mark & Design Rights: Case Study
In this session, the participants will be presented with a practical case study on
the protection of a particular trade mark/design right, covering the various stages
and principal issues in the whole process from its creation through to its
enforcement (preliminary measures, infringement, dispute settlement, including
special procedures etc.). This will provide the basis for the final evaluation
exercise.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ
National expert (to be named) and Participants
10.45
Coffee Break
11.00
Evaluation – Resolution of the case
In this session, the participants will be asked to discuss the possible approaches
and solutions to the practical case study and how these may differ in the different
ReSPA countries, the aim being to examine the various issues which can arise in
such cases, and how such issues are or should be addressed.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ
National expert (to be named) and Participants
11.30
Evaluation – Debriefing
This final session will give the participants and the national experts the
opportunity to present and debate in plenary their own views and opinions on the
preceding evaluation exercise, including problems identified, (possible) solutions,
failures and successes. The session will conclude with further practical
suggestions for useful practices and methods to be applied.
Miodrag MARKOVIĆ
National expert (to be named) and Participants
12.15
Conclusions and Evaluation
Participants and William BULL
12.30
End of the seminar
5