The Bill was presented by representative of the Ministry of Economy Dusan Vuckovic and the Director of the Intellectual Property Office Vladimir Maric. The representatives of the submitter said that according to the Bill a medicine or medical product, protected by a supplementary protection certificate, may be produced or stored in the Republic of Serbia only for export purposes, provided that the packaging of said medicine or medical product bears special marking. These provisions will be applied starting 2 July 2022 and will not apply to certificates that came into force before the law’s entry into force. In addition, the production of medicine or medical product may begin at the earliest six months before the expiry of the certificate for storage on the territory of the Republic of Serbia in order to be placed on the market of the Republic of Serbia after the expiry of the relevant certificate. The supplementary protection certificate is a territorial right and represents an extension of the validity of the patent for a maximum of five years.

The Bill also proposes changes to the provisions of the Law that regulate the procedure for small patent protection and substantive examination. The Bill expands the term of small patent, so that a small patent claim can protect a product and not just the solution related to the construction of said product or the arrangement of its components as prescribed by applicable law.

Following the presentation and discussion, the Committee members adopted the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Patents, in principle.

The Committee members also considered the Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of Mongolia on Trade and Economic Cooperation, submitted by the Government. The Bill was presented by Maja Sikimic, acting Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said that the Agreement aims to improve trade and economic cooperation, as well as the create a legal basis for the establishment of a Joint Commission to monitor trade and economic cooperation and undertake activities conducive to its further improvement and removal of possible obstacles.

Following the presentation, the Committee voted for the adoption of the Bill in its entirety.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Veroljub Arsic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Zoran Tomic, Vojislav Vujic, Doc. Dr Ilija Zivotic, Snezana Petrovic, Vesna Stambolic, Natasa Ljubisic, Snezana Paunovic, Nenad Krstic, Branimir Jovanovic, Mladen Boskovic, Mirela Radenkovic and Ivana Popovic.