Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2024 submitted by the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia
Please provide links to your website where the requested information can be found in English, French, or Spanish. Alternately, you may provide text responses instead of URLs if desired. If the information is not available on your website in an ATR language, then please provide text.
URLs in responses should meet the following requirements:
The term "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models.
Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
In 2024 IPO Serbia continued to maintain its electronic services. The whole system uses data from IPAS administration system (patents, trademarks, industrial design), as well as separate databases for GI and Copyright:
- e-Registers for: Patents, Petty patents, SPC, Trademarks, Industrial design (connected to IPAS)
- Evidence of deposited copyright and related right works
- e-register of geographical indication of origin
- e-Filling
- e-Delivery
e-Filling – system consists of application and submission modules:
- Application for protection of invention with submodules for: patent, petty patent, SPC, EP validation and e-PCT application for international protection of invention
- Application for trademarks protection including submodules for: individual trademark, collective trademark and warranty trademark
- Application for industrial design with submodules for individual and multiple design applications
- Different modules for submitting submissions in the administrative procedures grouped in 10 groups with 70 electronic forms:
- Pre-application search, two forms for patent and trademark commercial searches
- Procedure upon submission of an application (17 forms)
- Procedure for international registration of trademark and industrial design (4 forms)
- Entries of changes into registers (12 forms)
- Cancellation of trademark and termination due to non-use (4 forms)
- Complaint request (1 form)
- Extracts from registers and certificates (5 forms)
- Other requests and submissions (12 forms)
- Fees (9 forms)
- Submissions of Collective management Organizations (14 forms)
Prerequisite for using e-Filing system for most of the actions in e-Filling system is possession of electronic signature certificates issued by certification bodies in Serbia.
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/e-application/
In 2024 IPO RS received 4206 applications for industrial property rights in national proceedings, out of which 79.3% are received through e-Filling system, and share of other submissions through e-Filling was 63%.
E- delivery has been established in July 2020. It represents an electronic delivery of e-documents issued by the IPO, with its e-signature. The documents are being sent directly from our IPAS (Industrial Property Administration System) to the e-Mailbox within our governmental portal e-Uprava. Mainly is meant for representatives of our filed applications, but intention is to include as many applicants/owners of the rights, as possible. E-delivery was used for 30.3% of all Office’s delivered documents.
System of the e-filing of documents enables to file also the applications of industrial design electronically. The receiving of documents and filings for the applications in the procedure and for the registered intellectual property rights are supported as well.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
Of the total number of 350 industrial design applications filed in 2024, 273 applications (with 764 designs contained in individual and multiple applications) were filed by foreign applicants under the Hague Agreement, concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, while 77 applications were filed directly with the IPO in national proceedings by domestic and foreign applicants (of which 19 were multiple applications, making a total of 111 industrial designs in national applications).
Industrial Design Applications:
Year Hague Agreement National domestic / foreign Total
2024 273 66 11 350
2023 225 51 38 314
2022 191 76 23 290
In 2024 there were 340 industrial design registrations, of which 273 were registered in accordance with the Hague Agreement, and 67 on the basis of applications filed directly with the IPO.
Registered Industrial Designs:
Year Hague Agreement National domestic / foreign Total
2024 273 42 25 340
2023 224 49 25 298
2022 191 52 22 265
Compared to 2023, the number of applications filed directly with the IPO in 2024, decreased by 12 applications. Also, in 2024. the number of applications filed under the Hague Agreement increased by 48 compared to 2023.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): Annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide annual report of the Office
Annual report 2024: https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/about-us/documents/annual-reports/ in Serbian/English
Webpage with the information on Industrial design proceeding and facts: https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/rights/industrial-design/ in English
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
All relevant data considering industrial design protection in Republic of Serbia are on the link www.zis.gov.rs (https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/rights/industrial-design/ in English). That includes most frequently asked questions, design legislation, guidelines and forms, fees, statistics and reports.
Instructions for drafting industrial design application and for the process of filling are available at the website as well as the examples of formally correct industrial design applications. All forms and guidelines, FAQ are available at the following link:
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/rights/industrial-design/#how-to-apply
E-filing user guide recommends how to prepare the proper documentation for application – all is accessible through link:
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/e-application/ English
https://www.zis.gov.rs/e-prijava/ Serbian
National database of industrial designs is on our web site as well.
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/databases/industrial-design/
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Application dossiers for industrial designs are not available by the official website of the IP Office. In the future the plan is to develop an electronic Industrial design register, similar to the one for trademarks.
Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
The Intellectual Property Office of Serbia uses the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) since 1973. All the documents are classified according to class and subclass of the Locarno Classification. Now the IPO uses and classifies according to the last edition of the Classification. The classification is used for the novelty examination search, for commercial search and for statistics.
Other activities
III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
Intellectual Property Office of Serbia publishes only registered national industrial designs in Intellectual Property Gazette, once a month.
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Intellectual Property Gazette is the basic official source of information about all intellectual property rights. Industrial designs are published in the Intellectual Property Gazette once a month (end of month) and contains bibliographical data and graphical presentations or images of the industrial design registrations. The Intellectual Property Gazette, in the part referring to industrial designs, is prepared by means of computer using an IPAS system. The following information and bibliographical data concerning registered domestic and international Industrial Design are published in the Intellectual Property Gazette – registration number, application number, filing date, registration date, date of granted priority right, validity date, information on the holder of title, information about the design has been registered. Industrial designs are published in grayscale technique and color technique.
Since the beginning of 2010 the Intellectual Property Gazette is published only in electronic form in PDF format on the website of the IPO at the following link, and since 2012 in electronic form only:
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/intellectual-property-gazette/
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
All the searches at the Office are computerized. Each working station has fast internet access and industrial design databases are accessible through it. Examiners use national data base of design applications and registered designs and also use IPAS, internal data base which contains more information available through workflow. Apart from that, industrial design examiners use international databases such as Hague Express and DesignView and other national databases.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
The information services available to the public through the Office are as follows:
- Search according to the year of filing of the application,
- Search according to the applicant,
- Search according to the holder of rights,
- Search according to the application number,
- Search according to the registration number,
- Search according to classes
- Search according to the title of the product
Combination of the above mentioned Information on the registered industrial designs in Serbia is available on the site of the Office. https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/databases/industrial-design/
- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information such as: filing, publication, examination and registration procedures related to industrial designs
https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/rights/industrial-design/
Other sources
Industrial Design search is also offered by the Office as a commercial service and in 2024, 21 designs searches for Serbia were delivered to customers.
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
E-filing system for IP rights is fully functional and is improved on the back-office side with common dispatch module. The general information available on
E-Filing: https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/e-application/
System of the e-filing of documents enables to file the applications of trademarks, patents, petty patents and industrial design electronically. The receiving of documents and filings for the applications in the procedure and for the registered intellectual property rights are supported as well. In 2024 the share of e-filed trademark applications in national procedure is 46.8%.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
At Office's library (public reading room) all interested parties could free of charge access the trademark databases which are internally available for external users. Also, all interested parties are offered free of charge consultations on trademark filling and trademark procedures in person, by phone or by e-mails. In 2024, 649 consultations to customers were delivered in regard to industrial design application procedure and other issues related to industrial design by the employees of the helpdesk - Education and Information Centre. The consultations regarding industrial design applications in procedure but also the other ones provided by design examiners are not included in that figure. Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Various publications related to industrial design such as studies, brochures, and leaflets are available in paper form or in electronic form on the IPO website https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/electronic-publications/
Education and Information Center (EIC) of the IPO publishes EIC Newsletter with information about important subjects in the field of intellectual property. The EIC Newsletter is intended for all organizations and individuals involved in intellectual property or seeking knowledge in this field. The EIC Newsletter offers informative and educative thematic articles and other important information in the field of intellectual property. The Newsletter is available via official website of the EIC http://www.zis.gov.rs/sources-of-information/newsletter.302.html
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
The Education and information Centre (EIC) of the IPO provides support in the form of a service of disseminating information and education realized through consultations and training, seminars and workshops aiming identification, protection, management and exploitation of the results of research considering that intellectual property is created in research institutions. In a broader context this helps to promote innovation - transformation of ideas into products, processes and technologies benefiting society as a whole.
Stimulating universities and other public research institutions to be more active in protecting and exploiting, the EIC held many seminars for professors, researches and students.
Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
IPO Serbia has a public library where all interested parties can get the personal consultancy for trademark, patent, industrial design filing and procedures. Through Education and Information Center the seminars, information, including trademark system and the other proceedings are delivered to the public. Each month on third Thursday, Open Door event is organized in IPO for customer’s consultations beside the opportunity for consultations every day on regular basis.
Wide scope of education and information services is adjusted to the various target groups including: business companies and institutions that offer support to business, organizations involved in R&D, institutions of high education, institutions for the enforcement of the intellectual property rights and others. The education is performed in the form of lectures, seminars, conferences, consultations on protection, use and management of intellectual property rights. In 2024, 47 seminars were delivered to different stakeholder’s groups with 2927 participants. 24 seminars were delivered to universities and R&D organizations with 1036 participants, 10 events for general public with 1391 participants, 10 events for SMEs with 373 participants 2 events with 97 participants for enforcement institutions and 1 event for 30 inventors. Small and medium enterprises and R&D teams are offered the special service designed in particular for them, Intellectual Property Pre-diagnosis and “1to1” consultations and altogether 11 of such services were delivered. The Office was present at the 6 trade and other fairs with 330 consultations delivered to visitors and exhibitors
E-filing user guide, electronic certificates description and installation manuals, recommendations how to prepare the proper documentation and graphic data format for application – all is accessible through link:
English: https://www.zis.gov.rs/en/e-application /
Serbian (more extensive): https://www.zis.gov.rs/e-prijava/
E-filing system for IP rights was prepared and started in April 2016.
Other activities
Over the year, the Office’s website was visited by 76,000 users, of which 73,000 were unique visitors. A total of 436,000 pages were viewed (5.76 pages per user). Besides the homepage, the most frequently visited pages were those that allow searches of trademark and patent databases, containing information on intellectual property rights, and providing guidelines for application submissions and fees payable in proceedings before the Office. In 2024, 102 news were published on the Office’s website, while more than 120 posts, including news, announcements, and educational content about intellectual property rights, were shared across its social media platforms.
VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
The officials of the IPO attended Liaison Meetings on Industrial Design in EUIPO in 2024 and participated at WIPO Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of an International Agreement on Industrial Design Law.
VII. ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIPO STANDARDS CONCERNING INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
Note: For each Standard listed below, please enter one of the following values:
- "Implemented";
- "On implementation phase";
- "Planning to implement"; and
- "No plan to implement"
WIPO Standard ST.3: Two-letter codes for the representation of states, other entities and organizations
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.13: Numbering of applications for IPRs
No plan to implement
Partially implemented for internal exchange of data with other databases
WIPO Standard ST.80: Bibliographic data relating to industrial designs
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.81: Content and layout of industrial designs gazettes
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.86: Processing of industrial design information using XML
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.87: The exchange of industrial design legal status data
No plan to implement
WIPO Standard ST.88: Electronic representation of industrial designs
Implemented
WIPO Standard ST.90: Recommendation for processing and communicating Intellectual Property data using Web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
No plan to implement
WIPO Standard ST.91: Recommendations on digital three-dimensional (3D) models and 3D images
No plan to implement
WIPO Standard ST.96: Processing of Industrial Property information using XML
No plan to implement
Other WIPO Standards Related to Patents
Note: Please list any other WIPO Standards related to patents (not mentioned above) that your Office or Organization has implemented, is currently in the process of implementing, or plans to implement in the future. For each Standard, please indicate the implementation status with an option: Implemented, On implementation Phase or Planning to Implement.