WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/421 
8 March 2004  
 
(04-0999) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION 
 
Responses from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  
to questions from Switzerland  
 
  The following communication, dated 4 March 2004, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Former Y ugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 
 
_______________ 
 
 A. G
ENERAL  
1. Are the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, in  so far as not implemented in national 
law, directly applicable in your legal system? 
Pursuant to Article 118 of the Constitution of  the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
the international agreements ratified by th e Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  are considered 
as a part of the internal legal syst em and may not be changed by law. 
 
B. PATENTS  
2. Does your legislation grant patent protection for inventions relating to products and 
processes in all fields of technology? Are there an y exceptions? If so, please explain what these 
exceptions are and how they comply wi th Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement. 
Pursuant to Article 2, indent 1 and 7 and Ar ticle 19, paragraph 1 of  the Law on Industrial 
Property, inventions in all fields of technique a nd technology which are new, involves inventive step 
and are susceptible of industrial application shall be protected by patent.  This definition is in 
conformity with Article 27, pa ragraph 1 of TRIPS, as well. 
 
Pursuant to Article 72, the patent granted for a process shall also refer to the products and 
substances obtained from that process. 
 Exceptions are anticipated in Article 20 of the Law on Industrial Property and they are 
entirely in compliance with the exceptions anticipated  in Article 27, paragraphs 2 and 3 of TRIPS.  
They refer to the new animal species and plant varieties, surgical and diagnostic methods and 
inventions, the publishing or application of which is contrary to the public order and morality.  In the 
old Law on Industrial Property, the plant varieties and hybrids could have been protected with a 
patent, but with the adoption of the Law on Se eds and Seedling Material, the requirement from 
Article 27, paragraph 3(b) of TRIPS, which provides fo r exclusion of the same from patent inventions 
by provision of an efficient sui generis  system of protection, has bee fulfilled. 
 IP/C/W/421 
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3. Does your legislation, in accordance with Arti cle 27.1 in combination with Article 31 of 
the TRIPS Agreement, consider importation as  "working" a patent and therefore preclude 
compulsory licensing, if a product is being imported? 
Article 76 of the Law on Industrial Property s tipulates that if the patent-owner does not 
exploit the protected invention or exploits it to the extent which is insufficien t to satisfy the needs of 
the Macedonian market, and refuses to conclude  a licence agreement or sets forth non-market 
conditions for conclusion of such agreement, the righ t of use of the invention may be given to another 
person with obligation to pay rem uneration to the patent-owner.  Compulsory licence shall not be 
given if the patent-owner proves the existence of legitimate reasons justifying the non-exploitation or 
insufficient exploitation of the protected invention. 
 
Satisfying the needs of the market means to satisfy the needs with domestic production or 
production from abroad. 
 
4. Does your legislation make the granting of a compulsory licence subject to all the 
conditions enumerated in Article 31 TRIPS of the TRIPS Agreement?  Please cite the relevant 
provisions of law. 
Articles 76 through 81 of the Law on Industr ial Property regulate the institution of 
compulsory licence, which is in compliance with Article 31 of TRIPS. 
 Pursuant to Article 76, paragraph 1 of the La w on Industrial Property, the compulsory licence 
is issued for the purpose of satis fying the needs of the Macedonian market in cases where the patent-
owner does not exploit the protected invention, refuses to conclude  a licence agreement or sets forth 
non-market conditions for conclusion of such ag reement. This is entirely in compliance with 
Article 31, paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of TRIPS. Paragraph 2 of  Article 76 shall determine the 
conditions due to which a compulsory licence is not to  be issued which is in compliance with Article 
31, paragraph (a) of TRIPS. 
 The court shall decide in a trial procedure upon request for issuance of compulsory licence 
(Article 77 of the Law on Industrial Property), which is in conformity with Article 31 of TRIPS. The 
reimbursement is regulated with Article 79 of the Law on Industrial Property, pursuant to Article 31, 
paragraph 3(e) of TRIPS. 
 
The validity period of the compulsory licence is  exclusively related to the validity of the 
reason due to which it has been issued (Article 80 of the Law on Industrial Property, pursuant to 
Article 31 paragraph (i) of TRIPS). 
 
5. Does your legislation provide for the principle of the reversal of burden of proof in a 
process patent litigation? Please cite the relevant provisions of law. 
In cases of civil court procedures (Article 201 through 211 of the Law on Industrial Property) 
initiated due to infringement of the patent right, th e court may, pursuant to Article 72 of the Law on 
Industrial Property, request evidence in case of ex istence of reasonable doubts that the product has 
been produced in a protected process which is in compliance with Article 34 of TRIPS.  The burden 
of proof shall fall on the alleged infringer (72, pa ragraph 4 of the Law on Industrial Property), which 
is in conformity with the provision fro m Article 34, paragraph 2 of TRIPS. 
 In the part of safety measures, there is a po ssibility for the right-owner to request from the 
persons related to the infringement of the right to present for inspection the data and documentation 
relating to the infringement (Article 214, paragra ph 1 of the Law on Industrial Property).  Such 
possibility is anticipated in Article 50, paragraph 5 of TRIPS. 
  IP/C/W/421 
 Page 3 
 
 
In a civil procedure, the judges ma y, for the needs of the procedure, order experts to testify, as 
well as request provision of other evidence mate rial (Articles 204 – 261 of the Law on Trial 
Procedure), in criminal procedure (Articles 198 – 252 of the Law on Criminal Procedure) and administrative procedure (Articles 159 – 201 of the Law on Administrative Procedure). 
 
In an administrative procedure, the procedure upon proposal for declaring nullity of the 
decision, the person filing the proposal shall be obligated to submit the necessary evidence 
(Article 225, paragraphs  3 and 4 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure). 
 Submission of evidence to the opposite part y requesting reply is anticipated for all 
procedures. 
 
C. P
ROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION  
6. Please explain in detail if your legislation en sures that undisclosed test or other data 
submitted by an applicant to the responsible State agency in the procedure for market 
authorisation of a pharmaceutical or of an agr icultural chemical product is protected against 
disclosure and against unfair commercial use by a competitor, for example by prohibiting a second applicant from relying on, or from referring to the original data of the first applicant, 
when applying subsequently for market authorisation for his own product. 
Does your legislation provide for exceptions to this? If yes, under what conditions would 
such exceptions apply? 
 
Does your legislation provide for a specific term  of protection for such undisclosed test 
data?  
Protection of confidential information is mainly  with the provisions for unfair competition of 
the Law on Trade Companies (Articles 176 through 178b) and the Law on Trade (Articles 31 through 
37). 
 Protection of confidential information from resea rches and other information submitted in the 
procedure for approval of sale and marketing of pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products 
(Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement) is obtained with the provisions for unfair competition (Articles 
31, 34 and 37) of the Law on Trade (Official Gazette 23/95, 30/96, 43/95 and 43/99), Law Against 
Unfair Competition (Official Gazette 80/99) a nd Article 23 and 24 of the Law Against Limiting 
Competition (Official Gazette 80/99).  In addition to  that, the protection of confidential information 
and records for pharmaceutical products is provide d for in the law on Medicines, Medications and 
Medical Devices (Official Gazette 21/98). 
 
Revealing and unauthorized acquiring of business secrets are considered as criminal acts 
pursuant to Article 281 of the Criminal Code. Civil se rvants are requested to keep secret pursuant to 
Article 20 of the Law on Civil Servants.  Confidenti al information revealed during public trials and 
court procedures are protected pursuant to the La w on Administrative procedure (Article 150), Law 
on Trial Procedure (Article 292), Law on Crim inal Procedure (Article 280) and Law on 
Misdemeanours. 
 IP/C/W/421 
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D. P
ROVISIONAL MEASURES  
7. Do your judicial authorities have the authority to adopt, on the request of a right holder, 
a provisional measure inaudita altera parte before an action leading to a decision on the merits 
of the case has been lodged? Please ci te the relevant provisions of law. 
Articles 263 through 276 of the Law on Enforcemen t Procedure and provisions of the Law on 
Trial Procedure authorize judges to issue provisional prohibitions and assistance for the purpose of 
preventing infringement and keeping of eviden ce.  The Law on Copyrights and Related Rights 
(Articles 159, 162 and 168), Criminal Code (Ar ticle 157) and Law on Industrial Property (Article 
213) also provide for provisional measures pronounced  by a court decision.  The provisional measures 
are permitted inaudita altera parte  in cases of copyrights pursuant to Article 162, paragraph 2 of the 
Law on Copyrights and Related Righ ts. Provisional measures in cases of intellectual property are 
permitted in compliance with Articles 263 throug h 275 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure and 
Articles 257 and 260 of the Law on Trial Procedure.  In accordance with these provisions, the 
provisional measures may be adopted inaudita altera parte. 
 
8. Does your legislation provide for any restrict ions for obtaining provisional measures? 
If so, what are these restrictions?  Please cite the relevant provisions of law. 
 
There are no restrictions regarding the tim e of pronouncing a provisional measure.   
  Pursuant to Article 264 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure: 
 
"An interim measure may be allowed before a nd during a court or administrative procedure, 
and after the conclusion of such procedures,  but before the actual implementation of the 
enforcement."  
Pursuant to Article 265 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure: 
 "An interim measure shall not be allowed if  there are grounds [conditions] for allowing a 
preceding measure capable of achieving the same goal." 
 
Pursuant to Article 266 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure: 
 
"An interim measure for securing a monetary claim may be permitted if the creditor has made the existence of the claim evident and if there is  a risk that the debtor would obstruct or make 
significantly more difficult the collection of th e claim, in the absence of such a measure by 
transferring all of his/her property or assets, con ceal them or dispose of them in another way. 
 
The creditor need not prove the risk if s/he makes evident that the debtor would suffer only 
insignificant damages.  A risk shall be deemed to exist if the claim is due abroad.  
An interim measure for preventing payment agai nst an acceptance order may be allowed if 
the proposal for such a measur e was made in a complaint." 
 Pursuant to Article 268 of the Law on Enforcement Procedure: 
 "An interim measure for securing a non-monetary claim may be permitted if the creditor 
makes evident the existence of th e claim and the risk that without such a measure the debtor 
would obstruct or make significantly more  difficult the collection of the claim.  IP/C/W/421 
 Page 5 
 
 
  An interim measure may also be allowed if the creditor makes eviden t that the measure is 
necessary to prevent the use of force or th e damage caused could be indemnified. 
  The provisions pertaining to paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 266 of this Law also apply to 
interim measures for securing a non-monetary claim."  
 
9. Please describe the provisional measures provided for in your legislation, including 
those useful to combat counterfeiting and piracy . Please describe the procedures that must be 
followed and cite the relevant provisions of law. 
The following activities of Article 162 of the La w on Copyrights and Related Rights: seizure, 
removal from circulation and preservation of copies,  devices, equipment and documents; prohibition 
of activities of eventual infringement or their c ontinuation and other sim ilar measures – provisional 
measures. If there is a well-found suspicion that this  protection may not be realized later, the court 
may pronounce and execute such measures without prio r notification and hearing of the adverse party.  
The procedure for securing of evidence shall be summary. 
 In Article 163 of the Law on Copyrights and Related Rights the provision of evidence is also 
considered as a provisional measure - in cases wher e it is known that the evidence will be destroyed 
or impossible to obtain at a later period of time, the court may also obtain them without prior notification and hearing of the adverse party.  The procedure for securing of evidence shall be 
summary. 
 Pursuant to Article 213 of the Law on Industrial Property:  "The right-owner who can initiate an action fo r infringement of his rights under this Law may 
also submit to the court request for ruling pr ovisional measures under the conditions and in 
the manner provided for by the Law on executive procedure."  Pursuant to Article 214 of the Law on Industrial Property:  "(1) The right-owner may request the person s who were in any way connected with the 
infringement of the right acquired under this La w (producer, publisher, importer, distributor, 
consignor, owner, seller, owner of samples, ite ms or means with which his right was infringed 
and other persons) to submit the data and doc uments regarding the infringement without 
delay.  
(2) If the persons referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article fail to submit the data or 
document at their disposal, they shall be res ponsible for remuneration of damages caused by 
that failure.   (3) If the right-owner referred to in paragr aph (1) of this Article abuses the data or 
documents acquired from the persons under para graph (1) of this Article, causing them 
damages, he shall be obliged to remunerate  the damages under the general provisions for 
remuneration of damages." 
 
10. Please describe the measures provided by your legislation to combat counterfeiting and 
piracy at the border. Please explain whether the competent authorities are empowered to act ex 
officio and, if so, please indicate the enforceme nt actions that may be taken. Please cite the 
relevant provisions of law. 
Pursuant to Article 215 of the Law on Industrial Property: IP/C/W/421 
Page 6  
 
 " (1) If the right-owner lodges an applicati on that the import of given goods in the 
Republic of Macedonia infringes his rights acquired under this Law, at his request, the customs officials may rule the following border measures: 
 
 1. An authorized customs employee, accompanied by the right-owner or his 
representative, to inspect the goods which are being imported and exclude 
them from trade or store them in a safe place, unless the importer has authentic evidence on the production of the goods he is importing. 
 
 (2) At request of the customs officials or th e importer, the right-owner shall be obliged to 
submit bail for possible damages caused by the measures under paragraph (1) of this Article. 
  (3) The customs officials shall immediately notify the importer and receiver of goods of 
the ruled measures. 
 
 (4) The customs officials shall suspend th e ruled measures under paragraph (1) of this 
Article if the right-owner does not institute an action for infringement of right to the competent court within 8 days from the date of filing the request." 
 
Pursuant to Article 165 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights: 
 
"If the right holder reports that his exclusive ri ght according to this Law has been infringed by 
the importation of certain goods in the state, the customs authorities may, on his demand 
determine the following customs measures:  
 - The right holder or his agent to inspect the goods; and 
  - The goods to be seized, removed from circulation, or stored in a secure place. 
 
Together with the demand of this Article, para graph 1, the right holder shall be obliged to 
deliver to the customs authorities a detailed description of the goods, necessary evidence of 
his exclusive rights and their presumable infringement. On the customs authorities' order, the 
right holder shall be obliged to provide a secur ity against damage that may be caused by such 
measures. 
The customs authorities shall be obliged promptly  to notify the importer and the recipient of 
the goods of the measures adopted. The cust oms authorities shall rescind the measures 
adopted insofar the holder of right does not file a suit or initiate some other proceedings for 
executing the measures adopted within ten days." 
Regarding the availability of the Customs Aut horities to act ex officio, the Ministry of 
Finance and the Customs Administration sh all adopt the Law on Customs Measures for 
Protection of Intellectual Property during the 2004.  This Law is in the Plan of Acts and Activities, which will be prepared and proposed, or undertaken by the organizational units of 
the Ministry of Finance in the year 2004.  Th is Law shall enable the Customs Administration 
to act ex officio in the process of protection of the intellectual property.   IP/C/W/421 
 Page 7 
 
 
E. ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS  
11. Please describe how your legislation meets the requirements of Article 41 of the TRIPS 
Agreement. Please cite the relevant provisions of law. 
Article 41.1 of TRIPS  
 
Pursuant to the LCRR and other legal regulati ons, authors and other holders of the copyright 
and related rights, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, as well as other authorized state bodies (administrative and court) shall be authori zed for initiating and/or undertaking measures for 
prevention of the misuse of the copyright and related rights. 
 
A person whose rights under this Law have been  infringed may demand protection of his/her 
rights and claim indemnity, unless otherwise determin ed by this Law. The right holder may also 
demand protection under this Article, paragraph 1, when  there is a serious threat of infringement of 
the rights according to this Law (Article 156). 
 
When there are several right holders according to this Law, each of them may demand 
protection of the right in its entirety. When there ar e several infringers of a right as per this Law, each 
of them shall be liable for the infringement, in its entirety (Article 157).  
A person shall be considered to be infringing th e exclusive rights according to this Law, when 
s/he manufactures, imports, possesses for commercial purposes, distributes, rents or in any other way 
uses any devices which sole or main purpose is, unauthorized removal or damage of technical 
equipment or a computer program that is used as legal protection against unauthorized use; and that 
makes possible or assists, without authorization, the public to receive encoded broadcasters program-
carrying signals (Article 158).  
Authors and other holders of copyright and related rights, independently or through a 
representative that may be a collective organization as well, may initiate court procedures (trial procedure - as unique initiators of the procedure, misdemeanour or criminal procedures for which the 
Inspectorate at the Ministry of Culture may al so appear as initiator).  The foregoing entities may 
submit criminal charges for initiation of a criminal procedure for the performed criminal acts before 
the public prosecutor and if ther e is evidence for the performed criminal act, which according to 
Article 157 of the Criminal Code (Official Gaze tte of the Former Yugos lav Republic of Macedonia 
no. 37/96) shall be prosecuted officially, the public prosecutor shall press charg es.  At the same time, 
protection measures to be undertaken may be dema nded.  Under the Law on Copyrights and Related 
Rights, the infringement of the copyright and relate d rights is also anticipated and is subject to 
sanctions. 
 
The Inspectorate at the Ministry of Culture  shall perform regular and extraordinary 
supervisions and control and investigate each case se parately.  If it finds that certain copyright and 
related rights have been infringed, it shall unde rtake the prescribed measures and press misdemeanour 
charges.  At the same time with the misdemeanour  charges, protection measures shall be undertaken. 
 
When an authorized person (her eafter: inspector) in the course of his supervisory activity, has 
well-founded suspects that an infring ement has been committed, he sh all temporarily seize the objects 
that have been or are intended to be used for committing an infringement, or have been created by 
such an infringement. The inspector shall submit the temporarily seized objects, together with a writ 
for institution of misdemeanour proceedings, to the competent authority in misdemeanour 
proceedings (Article 170,  paragraph 2 and 3). 
 Civil legal protection according to Law on Copyrights and Related Rights is stipulated in 
Articles 159 through 163.  IP/C/W/421 
Page 8  
 
 The Law on Industrial Property anticipates provision of efficient protection in case of 
infringement of an industrial property rights through: 
 - A procedure upon proposal for declaring nu llity of a decision (Article 224 and 225 of 
the Law on Industrial Property); 
 - Provisional measures (Article 213);  - Submission of data and other documenta tion (Article 214 of the Law on Industrial 
Property); 
 - Court protection (201 – 212);  - Customs measures (215); 
 
- Misdemeanors (228 of the Law on Industrial Property).  The Criminal Code provides for criminal acts such as unauthorized use of other's business 
name (Article 385) and unauthorized use of other' s invention (Article 286).  Objects produced with 
the abovementioned criminal acts shall be sei zed, while the prosecution shall be initiated upon a 
proposal. 
 Procedures for the legal, civil legal protecti on, misdemeanor and criminal protection are 
regulated in the relevant articles of the followi ng regulations: Law on Administrative Procedure, Law 
on Trial Procedure, Law on Obligations (Compe nsation of Damages), Law on Misdemeanors, 
Criminal Code, Law on Criminal Procedure, Law on Enforcement Procedure, etc. 
 
Article 41.2 of TRIPS
 
 
The following provisions refer to enforcem ent of fair, simple and cheap procedures: 
 
The Law on Criminal Procedure anticipates the following basic principles: the accused person 
for a criminal act shall be considered as innocent until the guilt is proven on the basis of facts which 
the court determines in a favourable manner for th e accused – presumption of innocence (Article 2), 
the accused person needs to be notified about the reason for which the procedure has been initiated 
against him/her in the language which s/he understands (Article 3) , the accused person shall have a 
right to a just and public trial in a reasonable time period (Article 4), it is pr ohibited and punishable to 
elicit confession (Article 10), the procedure shall be carried without delay (Article 13), the obligation 
of the court and other state bodies for a truthful a nd complete determination of facts (Article 14), 
evaluation of evidence shall not be related or limite d with special formal evidence rules (Article 15). 
 Provisions regarding the criminal procedure shall also be applied in the misdemeanour 
procedure. 
 
The Law on Trial Procedure anticipates the followi ng basic principles: determination of limits 
of the request (Article 2), the parties may freely di spose with the requests (Article 3), the court shall 
decide upon the complaint request orally, immediatel y and in public (Article 4), an opportunity for 
each party to express its opinion upon requests of the ot her party (Article 5), an obligation of the court 
for complete and honest determination of the disput able facts and evaluation of evidence (Article 7), 
the court shall be obligated to carry out the pr ocedure without delay and with the least expenses 
(Article 10), educating an ignorant party about  the possibilities for initiating trial procedures 
(Article 11). 
  IP/C/W/421 
 Page 9 
 
 
The Law on Administrative Procedure, anticipat es the following basic principles: solving the 
problem according to law (Article 4), provision for protecting the citizens and public interest 
(Article 5), efficient realization of the rights (Ar ticle 6), determination of the real conditions by 
analysing all the facts (Article 7), guaranteed opportu nity for the parties to express their opinion about 
the facts and circumstances (Article 8), the pro cedure to be carried out with the least expenses 
(Article 13), providing assistance to ignorant parties for the purpose of protecting his/her rights, that 
belong to him/her according to the Law (Article 14).  Article 41.3 of TRIPS
 
 
Decisions of competent bodies in written form, containing explanation and based on evidence 
presented by the parties in a dispute are stipulated  in the provisions of the following regulations: 
 Pursuant to the Law on Criminal Procedure the verdict shall be pronounced and published 
(Article 337), the court shall base the verdict only on  facts and evidence presen ted at the main hearing 
(Article 339), the published verdict sh all be prepared in written form with in 8 days from the date of its 
publishing, or if more complex within 15 days (Ar ticle 347), the verdict needs to contain introduction, 
disposition/statement and e xplanation (Article 348). 
 Pursuant to the Law on Trial Procedure, th e verdict shall be pronounced and published 
(Article 321), the announced verdict shall be prepar ed in written within 8 days, while for more 
complex procedures, as an exception, within 15 days  from the date of its publishing (Article 323), the 
verdict needs to contain an introduction, statem ent (disposition) and explanation (Article 324).  
 Pursuant to the Law on Administrative Procedur e, the authorized body shall make a decision 
(Article 202) and it shall be in a written form and shall contain: an introduction, statement 
(disposition) and explanation (Article  206).  The procedure shall be administered while the decision 
shall be made and submitted to the party within  60 days, unless otherwise provided by the law. 
 
Article 41.4 of TRIPS
 
 
Complaints upon final administrative decisions and decision of first instance court authorities. 
 
An appeal against first instance decision may be filed to the Second Instance Committee of 
the Government (Article 14 Law on Enforcement Procedure) and (Article 144, 145 of the Law on 
Copyrights and Related Rights). 
 
A complaint may be filed for the purpose of initiation an administrative procedure against a 
decision adopted in a second instance administrativ e procedure (Law on Administrative Procedure). 
 An administrative procedure may be initiated within 30 days upon the receipt of the second 
instance decision (23 and 24 of the Law on Administra tive Procedure).  The complaint is field to the 
Supreme Court of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Article 3, pa ragraph 1of the Law on 
Administrative Procedure). 
 In compliance with Article 350 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, it is anticipated a right on 
complaint within 15 days from the submission of  the verdict upon which the second instance court 
shall decide (the Appellate Court). 
 
Also, some extra legal remedies have been antic ipated upon an effective verdict, such as: 
repetition of the criminal procedure (Articles 388- 398) and decision of the first instance court; 
extraordinary alleviation of the punishment (Art icles 399-402) upon which the Supreme Court shall 
decide; demand for protection under the Law (Artic les 403-410) upon which the Supreme Court shall IP/C/W/421 
Page 10  
 
decide and request for extraordinary check of th e effective verdict (Article 411-415) upon which the 
Supreme Court shall decide.  
Pursuant to Article 75 of the Law on Misdem eanours an appeal may be filed to a second 
instance court (Appellate Court) against a verdict a nd decision of the first instance.  Extraordinary 
legal remedies are the following: Demand for Repetition of the Misdemeanour Procedure and 
Demand for Protection of the Rule of Law. 
 Pursuant to Article 334 of the Law on Trial Pr ocedure a right to an appeal is anticipated 
within 15 days from the day of submission of th e verdict upon which the second instance court shall 
decide (Appellate Court). 
 Extraordinary remedies are: Revision (Articles 368-386) upon which the Supreme Court shall 
decide; demand for protection of the rule of la w (Articles 387 – 394) upon which the Supreme Court 
shall decide and repetition of the procedure (Ar ticles 395 – 402) upon which th e first instance court 
shall decide). 
 According to the Law on Copyrights and Rela ted Rights, upon a decision for issuance or 
revocation of a licence for collective realization of the copyright and related rights, an appeal is 
allowed to be submitted to the Government of th e Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia within 15 
days from the submission of the decision. Upon the second instance act an administrative trial may be 
initiated.  
 
12. Please indicate the authorities responsible for the application of the measures provided 
by your legislation to combat counterfeiting a nd piracy.  Please explain whether the competent 
authorities are empowered to act ex officio and,  if so, please indicate the enforcement actions 
that may be taken.  Please cite the relevant provisions of law. 
The Ministry of Culture monitors the implem entation of the Law on Copyrights and Related 
Rights – Managing Board of Associations for Coll ective Exercise of the Copyrights and Related 
Rights and Inspection Surveillance.  The inspection is  carried out ex officio and upon request by right 
holders.  The inspection may initiate misdemeanor pr ocedure.  The inspection also has authorization 
to seize objects and equipment – provisional measure – with a compulsory initiation of the 
misdemeanor procedure. 
 The Ministry of Economy – State Market Inspection carries out inspection on practicing the 
trade rules ex officio – origin of goods, provision for consumers protection and alike. 
 
The Ministry of Internal Affairs carries out inspection ex officio in cases where the 
unauthorized use of works and objects protected by the Law on Copyrights and Related Rights reaches the level of organized crime. 
 The Public Prosecutor shall ex offi cio initiate criminal procedure. 
 
The Customs Administration undertakes border measures of search for right holders.  Courts decide upon civil, misdemeanor and crim inal procedures.  The civil procedure may be 
initiated only by right holders; misdemeanor proce dures – inspections, right holders, as well as the 
public prosecutor; criminal procedure may be  initiated only by the Public Prosecutor. 
 Associations for collective exercise of rights a nd right holders may individually initiate civil 
and misdemeanor procedures, while for initiation of a criminal procedure, they file a request to the 
Public Prosecutor.   IP/C/W/421 
 Page 11 
 
 
The Customs Administration, in compliance with Article 215 of the Law on Industrial 
Property (Official Gazette 47/02) has a right to act in the following manner.  When a property right holder has doubts that a certain company will import or is already importing piratical and counterfeited goods, s/he shall address the Customs Administration. 
 
An authorized person from the Customs Administ ration, escorting the right holder or his/her 
representative may check the goods subject of impor ts and prohibit the release of the same on the 
market and store it in a safe place, in case he im porter does not possess a relevant evidence for the 
production of the imported goods.  In such a case, the Customs Administration has the right to keep the goods and prohibit the import of su ch piratical or counterfeited goods. 
 
13. Please describe any new initiatives that a re planned to improve the enforcement of 
intellectual property rights in your country, partic ularly initiatives to combat counterfeiting 
and piracy. Is there a particular action plan in place? 
In accordance with the expressed  readiness of the Government for providing implementation 
of the requirements pursuant to the TRIPS Agreement,  and in particular for applying more efficient 
protection of copyrights and related rights on the basis of the Information for Exercise and Protection of Copyrights and Related Rights, the fo llowing activities have been undertaken: 
 (1) A Coordinative Body for copyrights and rela ted rights has been established, where the 
coordinator is the Minister of Culture.  Represen tatives of the following ministries and institutions 
participate in its work: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Customs Administration of the 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedoni a, Ministry of Economy, State Market Inspection, Ministry of 
Internal Affairs, Ministry of Education and Scienc e and the Sector for European Integration in the 
Government of the Former Y ugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 
 
(2) The Government of the Former Yugos lav Republic of Macedonia shall adopt the 
following: Program for improving and implementing the regime for realization and protection of 
copyrights and related rights and for education and aw areness by analyzing the status and proposal for 
short-term and ling-term measures and activities a nd Action plan for efficient realization of the 
protection of copyrights and related rights in th e Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – strategic 
and developing documents. 
 
(3) Currently, the Law on Copyrights and Related Rights is in the process of amending for the 
purpose of putting it into compliance with the EU Directives.  These amendments shall provide for a 
higher level of protection than the one determined in TRIPS.  The most significant amendments are 
the following: provisions for database protection sui ge neris, IT agenda provis ions covering the right 
to making available to the public, technological measures, and right management information. 
 
(4) The following legislation shall be adopt ed – Law on Governing Customs Measures for 
Import, Export and Re-Export and Suspension Proc edures for Counterfeit and Pirated Goods – in 
conformity with the provisions of the pertinent le gislation of the European Union.  This Law shall 
provide for customs protection to be realized ex officio, as well. 
 
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is part of the regional CARDS programme for 
intellectual property and the TEMPUS programme targ eting all institutions in charge of protection 
and implementation of intellectual property rights.   Our estimation is that these projects, where 
numerous seminars, trainings and plans for netting of the concerned institution are planned, will 
contribute to our efforts for improving the protection of intellectual property rights. 
 
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