KOSOVO Law and Practice Contributed by: Ardian Rexha, Nora Grajcevci Mehmeti and Vjollca Hiseni, Rex Law Partners
Enforcement and Remedies Unique to copyright, claims may also be filed by col - lective management organisations or professional protection bodies, in addition to right holders and authorised licensees. The statute of limitations for fil - ing a lawsuit is three years from the moment of dis - covery of the infringement. Courts may issue interim injunctions to prevent infringement, order the seizure of suspected infring - ing goods, order a recurring penalty payment or block financial assets and bank accounts in cases of wider commercial-scale infringement. Once a final verdict is issued confirming the infringement, the court imple - ments permanent corrective actions, including: • ordering the definitive recall from the channels of commerce; • removal from the market; or • destruction the infringing goods and the tools used in their manufacturing. With respect to damages, compensation is to take into consideration financial losses, lost profits, moral damages and any unfair profits the infringer gener - ated. Alternatively, they can be set as a lump sum payment, which, at a minimum, are to be equal to twice the normal licensing fee an infringer would have been subject to pay had they sought licensing, or three times if the infringement was conducted for commercial gain. With respect to administrative sanctions, legal persons using works without authorisation face fines between EUR5,000 and EUR20,000, and individual businesses face fines between EUR500 and EUR3,000. 7.5 Others Software Treatment of software IP is treated within the frame - work of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, where computer programs are expressly listed as pro - tected works. Databases Databases are offered dual protection under Copy - right Law.
for reproduction and the names of the relevant prod - ucts. Once the application is submitted, the applicant has the right of priority over any other future applicant for registration of the same design and may be issued a priority certificate upon request. The AIP then conducts a formal examination to ver - ify compliance with filing requirements and fee pay - ments. It may reject the registration if the design does not meet legal definitions, is contrary to public interest and moral principles, or constitutes an unauthorised use of the products outlined in Article 6 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Enforcement and Remedies Enforcement procedures and remedy options closely observe the same actions outlined in 7.1 Patents . Legal entities infringing industrial design protection face fines between EUR3,000 and EUR9,000, while natural persons in business may be fined between EUR1,000 and EUR3,000. 7.4 Copyright The framework for copyright is set out in Law No 08/L-205 on Copyright and Related Rights. Copy - right protection applies to “works”, which are original intellectual creations in the fields of literature, art or science. This includes literary works, computer pro - grams, musical works, audiovisual works, works of fine art, architecture and photographic works. Authors possess exclusive economic rights under Arti - cle 23 to authorise or prohibit the use of their works, including reproduction, distribution, rental, public per - formance, broadcasting and communication to the public. Moral rights are also protected, namely the right of disclosure, the right to claim authorship, the right of integrity and the right of withdrawal. Length of Protection The exclusive economic rights are protected for the life of the author and for 70 years after their death. Moral rights are protected without time limit. Registration Process Authors enjoy copyright protection by the sole fact of creating the work. No registration or other formality is required for the copyright.
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