The Amendments to the Serbian Law on Patents were enacted on 17 September 2019 and will come into force on 26 September 2019.
The most significant changes were brought in the field of innovations made in the course of employment (employees’ invention). The previous version of the law stipulated that innovation created even up to one year after employment had ended falls under the same regime as innovation created during employment. However, it was not possible for the employer to file a patent application in such a case. The Amendments now prescribe that the employer is authorised to do so.
The Amendments also precisely state that employment means engagement only under the employment agreement. This excludes other similar arrangements between employers and inventors (e.g. freelance contracts).
In any event, if the employer is designated as the patent holder, the inventor is authorised to receive compensation for the innovation. The previous version envisaged that remuneration has to correlate to the economic effects of the invention. This has now been removed. Furthermore, the inventor is not entitled to receive additional compensation if the invention is licensed to third parties, as it was previously prescribed.
The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.
