European Union

Slovenia

IP Enforcement

2. With regard to cases that involve the infringement of intellectual property, could the Government of Slovenia provide data on the number of: - law suits that have been filed including their respective outcome and the average length from the filing of a complaint until the final judgement; - injunctions that have been issued (as defined in Article 44 of the TRIPS Agreement) and explain how such injunctions are being enforced; - provisional measures (as defined in Article 50 of the TRIPS Agreement) that have been granted and the average length to obtain such measures (from the request); - suspensions at the border of counterfeit trademark/pirated copyright goods or in relation to goods where other intellectual property rights are infringed; - criminal cases including the sentences that have been applied; whether they have been executed; and please also explain what kind of infringement of an intellectual property right would be regarded as a violation of criminal law; - seizures and/or destruction of counterfeit trademark and pirated copyright goods.

It is difficult to give reliable statistical data on the number of various law suits because Slovenia is a relatively young State. The data available as of January 1996 onwards show that, taking into account all cases in the field of intellectual property, there are currently about 50 cases initiated each year. The average length of proceedings at the first instance (from filing the suit until the judgement) is between one and two years. In proceedings in complicated matters, especially in patent litigation with experts involved and counterclaims on revocation filed, the duration is sometimes longer. One has to add up to one additional year for ruling on an appeal against the first instance judgement. Provisional measures are ordered quickly; an interlocutory injunction in about a week. (Final) injunctions are sought in almost every infringement suit. They are enforced with fines that the court is empowered to impose under Article 225 of the Code of Execution. The other possibility is an application under Article 294 of the Code of Obligations. The court can order the party who does not obey the injunction to pay the other party a sum of money, high enough to ensure obedience (similar to French "l'astreinte"). Provisional measures are often sought and are granted in the majority of copyright cases. The success of such applications is also quite high in trademark cases, whereas in patent cases the number of granted provisional measures is lower. When an ex parte provisional measure is sought and ordered, this is done in about a week from the request. No suspension at the border of counterfeit trademark or pirated copyright goods has been requested so far. There have been around 15 criminal cases lodged. The kind of infringement which would be regarded as a violation of criminal law is specified in Slovenia's response to question 24 of the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement.