KOSOVO Law and Practice Contributed by: Ardian Rexha, Nora Grajcevci Mehmeti and Vjollca Hiseni, Rex Law Partners
• making the conclusion of contracts subject to sup - plementary obligations that have no connection to the object of the contract; • imposing prices that restrict market entry or force competitors to leave the market; and • denying other enterprises a resource necessary or indispensable for competition in the market for certain suppliers. If the Authority determines a misuse of dominance, it may adopt a decision prohibiting the unlawful con - duct, imposing surveillance or structural measures for avoiding the anti-competitive effects of the conduct and imposing administrative fines. Law No 08/L-059 on Patents determines the process for patent protection in Kosovo. A patent is defined as an exclusive right granted for an invention in all fields of technology, if that invention is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application. Patent protection entails the right to prevent third parties from making, offering for sale, selling, using, exporting, importing or stocking the patented product or a product that results from a patented process. Length of Protection The term of a patent is 20 years from the filing date of the application. For pharmaceutical or plant protec - tion products, a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) may extend protection for a period equal to the time elapsed between the filing date and the first market authorisation, reduced by five years. The maxi - mum duration of an SPC cannot exceed five years. Registration Process The Industrial Property Agency (IPA) is responsible for the legal protection of inventions and the patent registration procedure. The procedure consists of the following steps. 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents • Application for the patent is submitted to the IPA; this must include a request for recognition, a description of the invention, patent claims,
drawings and an abstract of the invention. At the request of the applicant, the IPA can issue a certifi - cate of the right of priority, acquired on the date of submission of the patent application. • Once the application procedure is completed, the IPA performs a formal examination to check for completeness and fee payment. If the IPA deter - mines that the conditions for the patent application have not been met, it may request the applicant to correct the issues concerned. If the applicant does not correct these issues, the IPA may issue a deci - sion rejecting the patent application. • The IPA also conducts a substantive assessment to determine whether the subject matter meets the patentability requirements and whether it complies with the rule on the unity of invention. • The IPA grants patent applications that meet all formal and substantive requirements. Once the patent is successfully registered, the patent owner receives an official certificate and specification, which officially establishes their enforceable rights against third parties. To maintain protection beyond the tenth year, the owner must submit written evi- dence of patentability from recognised national or international offices; otherwise, the patent protec - tion lapses (or may be amended or invalidated) on the date of the expiry of the tenth year of the patent term. Enforcement and Remedies Claims for protection may be initiated by the patent holder, authorised representatives or exclusive licen - sees. There are two primary legal avenues for right holders in cases of infringement; they may request a court order to terminate current violations or prohibit future ones (where infringement is imminent), and/or they may request a court order to seize and remove all infringing products as well as the materials or tools used in their manufacturing from the market. Right holders can additionally claim for damages in proportion to actual damage, including lost profits and moral prejudice. Alternatively, compensation may be calculated as a lump sum based on elements such as hypothetical licensing fees applicable had the infringer pursued a licence to use the patent. If an
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