Kosovo IP rights

A circular received by the IPKat from Balkan-based IP practice SD Petosevic has informed him as follows:

"Kosovo independence that was declared this past Sunday, February 17, 2008, did not result in any immediate changes for the right holders in this new European jurisdiction. It is expected, however, that the outstanding questions regarding International Registrations and European Patents will be resolved in the near future.

Kosovo passed its own IP legislation and established its own Intellectual Property Office while still under the UN protectorate on November 19, 2007. The new IP law in Kosovo allows 12 months for re-registering Serbian registrations and re-filing pending applications. Right holders have until September 1, 2008 to maintain predecessor country priority for IP rights in Kosovo.