Prepared by: Barbara Mencin

 

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has recently published its annual report for 2015, which shows a decline in national patent, trademark and design applications.

The most significant drop was observed in terms of national patent applications, from 459 in 2014 to 311 in 2015.

The report also shows a significant decrease in national design applications, namely a 17 and 30 percent decrease in comparison to 2014 and 2013, respectively.

In 2015, the number of national trademark applications filed with the SIPO decreased by approximately 1.7 percent. However, the SIPO registered 2.7 percent more national trademarks in 2015 compared to 2014.

Interestingly, only 59 oppositions were filed against national trademark applications, which is 30 percent less than in 2014 and also the lowest number of oppositions in the last five years. In addition, the number of oppositions filed against international trademark registrations fell by 50 percent compared to 2014.

The report also shows a decrease in the number of lawsuits against SIPO’s decisions filed with the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia. Only five administrative lawsuits with respect to trademark decisions were filed in 2015, while 10 were filed in 2014.

PETOŠEVIĆ