Agreement on Cooperation in Mediation in Intellectual Property Disputes Signed

The Ministry of Justice, the Commercial Appellate Court in Belgrade, the Commercial Court in Belgrade, the Appellate Court in Belgrade, the High Court in Belgrade and the Intellectual Property Office have all signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Mediation in Intellectual Property Disputes.

All of these institutions have recognised the importance of multi-cooperation in this field and the necessity to improve conditions for the development of mediation, in order to ensure a better and a more efficient protection of the rights of parties to intellectual property disputes.

The Ministry of Justice will support the implementation of the said Agreement and the advancement of the established cooperation, continually working with fellow signatories to inform the public about the benefits and the advantages of mediation. In their efforts to implement the Agreement and related activities, the Ministry of Justice and fellow signatories
will receive the support of the EU for Justice – Support for Chapter 23 Project.

The plan to implement the Agreement objectives will involve, among others¸ continually informing disputed parties, attorneys and other relevant parties about the benefits and the advantages of using mediation to resolve intellectual property disputes. Additionally, the plan  will entail organising joint conferences and seminars on mediation, professional mediation programmes and other activities concerning mediation as a method of resolving disputes over,
above all, intellectual property rights, establishing an on-going dialogue, and sharing information about the option of intellectual property dispute resolution by mediation.

As the first sign of established cooperation, the Intellectual Property Office has dedicated a separate section of its official website to mediation, uploading a list of mediators with special knowledge of intellectual property law, now publicly available to courts and other interested parties. The Intellectual Property Office has also made a flyer about mediation, which explainsthe benefits of mediation and lists the contact details of its contact persons.