Seminar on intellectual property protection

On 30 October 2018, there was a seminar entitled ‘Technology transfer and the influence of rights concerning intellectual property on national economy’ organised on the premises of the Rectorate of the University of Banja Luka, in cooperation of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer of the University of Banja Luka and the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr Predrag Govedarica, project manager of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer of the University of Banja Luka, said that the seminar aimed at resolving all dilemmas concerning the issue of intellectual property rights and protection. 

Mr Govedarica added that it was necessary to provide an answer to the question of how to protect an original work or intellectual property, since this caused major issues when a certain patent reached the stage of commercialisation. 

Mr Josip Merdzo, Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed out the fact that there were few projects regarding the protection of patents conducted by scientific research institutions, which is an area that should be encouraged, given the fact that 30% of global income could be attributed to it. 

In addition, Mr Merdzo said that the protection of this form of property should not be neglected but upgraded. 

‘We must keep up the pace with the world, where scientific and research institutions are responsible for 5 to 7% of patents, whereas in Bosnia and Herzegovina it is mostly entrepreneurs or natural persons filing for protection of intellectual property’, said Mr Merdzo. 

He also stated the fact that this issue was a comprehensive one – ranging from filing a patent to business secret, in case of which not all elements of the patent are disclosed, thus serving as a means of gaining certain profit. 

‘Apart from the patent, as the commonest and most famous form of intellectual property protection, there is also the trademark, the copyright, and the industrial design, with the Institute being capable of offering protection in all the aforementioned segments, since it is well-equipped and staffed with people of different fields of expertise’, highlighted Mr Merdzo, concluding that the country, as far as the legislation regulating the area is concerned, matched the global standards regarding the issue, but that problems occurred in terms of its implementation.

Mr Zeljko Topic, Vice-President of the European Patent Office (seated in Munich, Germany), said that a file for each new patent was compared to whatever was publicly available, which is a demanding and time-consuming activity.  

Mr Topic said that his organisation employed over 7,000 people, of whom 4,500 scientists and engineers from all fields, engaged in browsing the state of affairs of technical equipment and determining how applicable the given patent was. 

The event was also attended by Prof. Strain Posavljak, PhD, Vice-Rector for Education and Students’ Affairs of the University of Banja Luka. 

MEETING WITH RECTOR

On the same day, Mr Merdzo and Mr Topic met with Prof. Radoslav Gajanin, PhD, Rector of the University of Banja Luka, discussing further cooperation in related fields.