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Amendments to Trademark Laws

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Aug 04, 2023 (Newsletter Issue 7/23)
Slovenia
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Industrial Property Act Amended


Amendments to the Slovenian Industrial Property Act entered into force on July 27, 2023, aiming to harmonize national legislation with the EU and international law, simplify procedures and make them more efficient and affordable.

Procedures for revocation and declaration of invalidity will be initiated before the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). They were previously held before the District Court in Ljubljana. The rules for administrative procedure in accordance with the Industrial Property Act and the General Administrative Procedure Act apply. The official fee for revocation or declaration of invalidity is EUR 500. Evidence in a foreign language must be translated into Slovenian.

Actions against the SIPO’s decisions may be filed before the Administrative Court of Slovenia. The court fee for an action before the Administrative Court is EUR 148. Pending revocation and declaration of invalidity procedures initiated before the amendments entered into force will be resolved in accordance with the previous law.

The District Court remains competent for deciding on trademark revocation or invalidation in case of a counterclaim in an infringement action. In such cases the Court must inform the SIPO that such a procedure was initiated before the Court.

A representative before the courts may be an attorney at law or a person that has passed the state bar examination, whereas the SIPO representatives do not need to be attorneys at law but patent or trademark attorneys who are registered and on the SIPO’s list of IP attorneys.

The option to require evidence of use in an opposition procedure based on an earlier right vulnerable to non-use was only introduced in Slovenia with the amendments of the Industrial Property Act in 2020.

With respect to proving the reputation of EU trademarks, Article 44 (1) (c) now expressly stipulates that for EU trademarks, reputation in the EU should be proven (not only in Slovenia).

It is no longer expressly required that Powers of Attorney (POAs) are given to representatives in written form, which could be interpreted that scanned copies of POAs are acceptable and originals no longer required. In cases where there is more than one representative for a right, if not indicated otherwise, the SIPO will deliver the documents to the most recently registered representative.

Furthermore, a uniform attorney’s tariff was introduced, which should be accepted by the Association of Slovenian Intellectual Property Attorneys (ASIPA) within one year from the amendments’ entry into force.

For more information click here.

Source: www.petosevic.com