RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/Q2/SVN/1
3October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4196)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION ONTRADEMARKS, GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
Slovenia
ThepresentdocumentreproducestheintroductorystatementmadebythedelegationofSlovenia,
thequestions puttoitandtheresponses given inthereview oflegislation ontrademarks, geographical
indications andindustrial designs attheCouncil 'smeeting of11-15 November 1996.1
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I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
Trademarks, geographical indications andindustrial designs arealldealtwithintheSlovenian
LawonIndustrial Property of1992, amended in1993. ThetextofthisLawhasbeennotified tothe
TRIPS Council anddistributed toMembers indocument IP/N/1/SVN/1/Add.1. Moreover, asmall
booklet withEnglish versions ofallmain lawsconcerning theprotection ofintellectual property in
Slovenia wasmade available bytheSlovenian delegation attheTRIPS Council 'smeeting inJuly1996.2
Slovenia isparty totheParis, Berne andRome Conventions and,asfarastrademarks and
industrial designs areconcerned, alsototheMadrid, Nice, Hague andLocarno Agreements.
Sloveniabelievesthatitslegislationconcerningtrademarks,geographicalindicationsandindustrial
designs complies withtheTRIPS Agreement, though thewording usedinitslawsis,incertain instances,
old-fashioned (inparticular those concerning geographical indications and,insome cases, trademarks).
Although Slovenia believes thatthese semantic differences havenorelevance forthesubstance, ithas
started work onanupdate oftheLawonIndustrial Property soastomake italsocompatible with
theTRIPS Agreement fromalinguistic point ofview. Thisexercise willalsoprovide theopportunity
toincorporate some provisions ofvarious ECDirectives intheareas currently under review. The
intention istoextend, inthiscontext, alsothescope ofprotection insome respects, forexample by
providing atermofprotection forindustrial designs of15or20years instead ofthecurrent 10years.
Thedraftofthisupdated LawonIndustrial Property ishoped tobeready inthefirsthalfof
1997 anditisSlovenia 'sintention topresent thisdrafttotheTRIPS Council withtheaimtoobtain
suggestions andobservations fromWTO Members foranyfurther improvements before theadoption
1Theminutes ofthismeeting arecontained indocument IP/C/M/11.
2Inregardof"otherlawsandregulations"intheareasunder review,referenceismade todocument IP/N/1/S VN/1/Rev.1,
p.4andp.5.IP/Q2/SVN/1
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oftheLawintheSlovenian Parliament andtoachieve, thus,legislation thatprovides foreffective and
efficient protection forallcategories ofindustrial property, insome instances perhaps exceeding the
minimum standards oftheTRIPS Agreement.
II. REPLY TOTHE GENERAL QUESTION CONCERNING PRIORITY RIGHTS3
Doesyourcountry recognize arightofpriority onthebasisofanearlier trademark application
filedinanyother WTO Member byanational ofaWTO Member?
Yes. Article 4oftheParis Convention isincorporated intotheTRIPS Agreement byvirtue
ofArticle 2.1.Itistherefore ourunderstanding thatitisourobligation under theTRIPS Agreement
torecognize arightofpriority fortrademarks filedfirstinanyother WTO Member.
III. REPLIESTOQUESTIONPOSEDBYTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIESANDTHEIR
MEMBER STATES
1. Could theGovernment ofSlovenia clarify howtheprotection granted to"appellations oforigin"
under theSlovenian Lawcomplies withArticle 22oftheTRIPS Agreement, inparticular where only
agiven reputation ofthegood isessentially attributable toitsgeographical origin?
Article 25(1) oftheSlovenian LawonIndustrial Property (LIP) reads asfollows:
"Geographical names ofproducts whose distinctive properties aremainly duetothelocation
orregion where theyareproduced, ifsuchproperties areanatural consequence ofeither the
climate orsoilorofestablished manufacturing procedures orprocesses, shallbeprotected by
appellations oforigin."
Thenotion "distinctive properties" hasageneral meaning andthusincludes quality, reputation
oranyother characteristic ofagood which isessentially attributable toitsgeographical origin.
Therefore, theSlovenian LawonIndustrial Property complies withArticle 22oftheTRIPS Agreement.
2. Could theGovernment ofSlovenia clarify whether itslegislation foresees additional protection
forgeographical indications forwines andspirits (Article 23oftheTRIPS Agreement)? Ifyes,please
explain.
Theadditional protection forgeographical indications forwines andspirits, asprovided for
inArticle 23.1oftheTRIPS Agreement, isregulated predominantly byArticle 31oftheLIP,which
reads asfollows:
"Persons notauthorized touseanappellation oforigin maynotusesuchappellation evenif
theyaddthewords 'type','style','fashion ','produced as'orsimilar words."
Provisions ofArticle 23.2oftheTRIPS Agreement aremetbytheprovisions ofArticle 19
oftheLIP,which, interalia,denies trademark protection ifitmerely designates name orplace of
geographical origin.
3Atthemeeting oftheTRIPS Council of11-15 November 1996, Members agreed torespond tothisquestion inthe
context ofthepresent review (document IP/C/M/11, paragraph 43).IP/Q2/SVN/1
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General remark
Notwithstanding explanations given above, itshould benoted that,according toArticle 8of
theConstitution, allinternational treaties aredirectly applicable asanational law.Therefore, theTRIPS
Agreement isdirectly applicable inSlovenia andprevails overnational legislation incases ofpossible
conflicts.