Intellectual Property

10 Apr 2023

Will Artificial Intelligence Kill Copyright?

Intro Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to change how we perceive intellectual property.  With the recent surge of AI, people are discovering that AI can generate works of art.  This raises important questions, such as the attribution of authorship for these creations and the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. We explore some critical issues regarding AI and its connection with IP here and offer potential solutions.  We also provide insight into famous cases and trends that may be crucial for the further development of AI in IP rights. The Owner of the Copyright So, who is the author of […]

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04 Feb 2022

Significant changes to the intellectual property legislation in Serbia

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Amendments to the Patent Act (“Amendments“) on December 8, 2021. The Act seeks to harmonize local protection of inventions regulations with those of the European Union. It also looks to eliminate certain shortcomings that have been identified in the application of the existing Patent Act. Therefore, the most important changes relate to the supplementary protection certificate and the protection of inventions through a utility model system. The changes will have a significant impact on the Serbian pharmaceutical industry and potentially incentivize investments by domestic entities. These changes seek to eliminate […]

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26 Mar 2021

The Internet – another outlet for publishing creative work and another headache for IP law

For many years now, watching movies and series has shifted to various internet platforms, while authors are wondering where their copyrights are in all of this. Answers to that question should be provided by the Copyright and Related Rights Act (‟Copyright Act”), which came into operation more than 11 years ago, during a surge in the use of various data exchange platforms.  Data is exchanged much faster, and computer technology is far more complex than it was before, and the Copyright Act is lagging behind in its response to emerging challenges regarding new ways of using technology and protecting authors. […]

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02 Sep 2020

Intellectual Property Disputes – Suitable for Arbitration?

Natural persons and companies in Serbia have a large number of disputes, covering all areas of business and legal life, including disputes over intellectual property rights. Resolution of these disputes is usually sought in court, however, there are also alternative solutions. As an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, arbitration could resolve disputes more quickly, in a more efficient way, and at a lower cost, compared to a resolution sought in courts. Prompt resolution of disputes before the arbitration is possible thanks to electronic correspondence, strict deadlines, and the limited number of hearings through which a resolution can be achieved so that […]

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06 May 2020

The same look, the same purpose of a computer program – copyright infringement or not?

Programming is the creative process of writing a particular set of characters, which, in a certain sequence, is an instruction for a computer to perform a particular action.  In order for the computer to “recognize” the instruction, the programmer must be as detailed and precise as possible when writing the specific instruction.  A computer program consists of a set of instructions and, consequently, a large number of instructions need to be written. The oldest computer systems were created in the first half of the last century, which were mechanical or electromechanical in type.  In order to introduce a new program […]

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28 Apr 2020

New Trademarks Act – a step closer in aligning Serbian legislation with EU law

On February 1, 2020, a new Trademarks Act („Act“) came into force with a view to addressing shortcomings observed during the application of the previous act, to establish a more efficient system for trademark protection, as well as to align Serbian legislation with the laws of the EU Member States in this field. Placing trademarked goods and services on the market allows the trademark owner to distinguish those goods and services on the market from others that are the same or similar, while simultaneously increasing its responsibility towards consumers.  The importance of trademarks calls for an efficient and simple protection […]

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16 Aug 2018

Free Internet – free copyrights?

In the second decade of the 21st century, the Internet network (the “Net”) became easily accessible to almost everyone, as well as the most important source of information. This is because, in addition to the availability of reviews and information collection, the Net has become easily accessible to create and upload different information and content by anyone. As a result, the Net has become the most widely used source of information, through which information from the different spheres could be found in the simplest and the fastest way. However, other than information, certain articles, images, photos, audio, audio-visual recordings and […]

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30 Jan 2018

Spotlight on IT Companies Part II – Alterations of the Software

In our previous piece (link), we discussed the relationship between IT companies and developers in the field of material copyrights over computer programs (“software”) in context of commercial usage of software by IT companies. However, the relationship between IT companies and developers in the field of copyrights might be of particular importance when it comes to amendments, adaptations, adjustments and other changes to the software as a copyrighted work. Namely, IT companies often modify, customize, upgrade and/or update software developed by their employed developers and/or external developers, or deliver the subject software to their clients for further modifications, customizations, adaptations, adjustments and […]

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18 Jan 2018

Spotlight on IT Companies – Have You Settled Your Rights and Obligations with Your Developers?

Over the past decade, Serbia witnessed an unprecedented growth of its IT/ICT market, becoming one of the most attractive outsourcing and R&D destinations in Eastern Europe (link).  Key players such as Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, Google, HP, SAP, IBM, Siemens, Intel, Cisco, NCR Corporation, Telenor, Erickson, Endava and others grabbed this opportunity, either by establishing development centers in Serbia or outsourcing services to local IT companies.  This resulted in two prevailing models – providing services through employed programmers/system architects/etc. (“developer/s”), or by engaging external developers (primarily registered entrepreneurs), a rather novel development.  Because software may, as an original intellectual creation, represent […]

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