RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/ALB/2
17May1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1297)
Original: English
ACCESSION OFALBANIA
Communication from Albania
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived fromtheMinistry ofIndustry, Transport and
Trade oftheRepublic ofAlbania.
_______________
Pursuant toAlbania 'saccession negotiations, please findattached anoteonintellectual property
andanoteontrade-related investment. These documents arefordistribution toMember countries.
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Theabove mentioned notes arereproduced hereunder.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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PROTECTION OFINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS INALBANIA
Inthepastseveral years, Albania hastaken steps toward thecreation ofalegal framework
fortheprotection ofintellectual property rights.
Thislegalframework consists ofLawNo.7819, dated 27April 1994, "OnIndustrial Property"
andLawNo.7564, dated 19May1992, "OnCopyright". Albanians andforeigners enjoy equal
protection under these laws.
I. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
Thelaw"OnIndustrial Property" provides forthegranting andprotection ofthefollowing
industrial property rights:
(a) patents forinventions andutility models;
(b) trademarks andservice marks;
(c) industrial designs;
(d) appellations oforigin.
Theprovisions ofthislawarealsovalid andapplicable forlegalandnatural persons thatareforeign
nationals from:
-- contracting states ofinternational treaties andconventions which havebeenacceded tobythe
Republic ofAlbania;
-- states, towhich theapplication oftheprinciple ofreciprocity isapplicable.
(1) Conditions ofpatentability
1. Inorder tobepatentable, aninvention shallbenovel, shallinvolve aninventive stepandshall
beindustrially applicable.
2. Thefollowing, inparticular, arenotregarded asinventions within themeaning ofparagraph (1):
(a) discoveries, scientific theories andmathematical methods;
(b) aesthetic creations;
(c) schemes, rules andmethods forperforming mental acts, playing games ordoing
business, andprograms forcomputers (forcomputer programs, seeCopyright below);
(d) presentations ofinformation.
3. Theprovisions ofparagraph (2)exclude patentability ofthesubject matter oractivities referred
tointhatprovision onlytotheextent towhich apatent application orpatent relates tosuchsubject
matter oractivities assuch.
4. Apatent isnotgranted inrespect ofaninvention thepublication orexploitation ofwhich would
becontrary topublic order ormorality.
5. Nopatents aregranted forsubstances obtained through internal nuclear transformations for
military purposes.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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6. Nopatents aregranted forinventions ofsurgical, diagnostic ortherapeutical methods practised
onthehuman oranimal body, astheyareregarded asinventions which arenotsusceptible toindustrial
application within themeaning ofparagraph (1).Thisprovision doesnotapply toinventions relating
tosubstances anddevices foruseinanyofthese methods.
7. Nopatents aregranted inrespect ofplantoranimal varieties oressentially biological processes
fortheproduction ofplants oranimals, thisprovision doesnotapply tomicrobiological processes or
theproducts thereof.
ThePatent Office hastopublish eachapplication filedwithitpromptly aftertheexpiration
of18months fromthefiling dateor,where priority isclaimed, fromthepriority dateoftheapplication
anditsdecision onthegrant ofpatent hastobewithin 4months from thedateofpublication. The
term ofapatent is20years from thefiling date. Theterm ofapatent forinventions related to
pharmaceutical products canbeextended over20years, butnomore than5years. Thetermofpatents
formodels is10years from thefiling date.
(2) Conditions ofprotection fortrademarks andservice marks
Theconstituent elements ofamark are:
1. Anysignoranycombination ofthesigncapable ofdistinguishing thegoods orservices and
ofbeing represented graphically;
2. Acollective trademark isatrademark registered byanindustrial orcommercial corporation,
oranassociation which isusedinorder todesignate thegoods orservices ofthisassociation;
3. Thefollowing signs:
- words, including personal names, letters, numerals, abbreviations;
- figurative signs, including devices, shapes ofgoods oroftheirpackaging;
- combinations ofcolours andshades ofcolours;
- anycombination ofthesigns mentioned above.
4. Specific types oftrademarks, suchas,sound andlightsignals orother signs mayberegistered,
iftheycanbegraphically represented.
Amark shallnotberegistered asatrademark if:
(a) itisdevoid ofdistinctive character;
(b) itconsists exclusively ofsigns orindications, which mayserve intrade, todesignate thekind,
quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, orthetimeofproduction of
thegoods orofrendering theservices orother asanindication thattheproduct originates from
acertain location orregion;
(c) itconsists exclusively ofsigns orindications which havebecome customary inthecurrent
language orinbonafideandestablished practices ofthetrade;
(d) itconsistsofshapesorformsimposedbytheinherentnatureofthegoodsorservicesornecessary
toobtain atechnical result;
(e) signs protected byCopyright ifnotauthorized bytheowner thereof.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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Within aperiod of5months from thefiling date, thePatent Office, inaccordance withthe
results ofexamination, shalladopt adecision toregister thetrademark andtopublish it.Theregistration
ofatrademark andservice mark isvalid for10years from thefiling dateandmayberenewed for
anadditional termof10years.
(3) Definition andconditions ofprotection ofindustrial designs
According totheIndustrial Property Law, industrial designs concern thefeatures orthe
appearance ofaproduct. Inorder tobeprotectable, itmustbenewandusable inindustrial orhandicraft
products.
Registration forindustrial designs isvalidfor5years fromthefiling dateandmayberenewed
foradditional terms of5years eachuptoatotaltermof15years counted from thefiling date.
(4) Appellation oforigin
Appellation oforigin protects:
(a) geographical names ofproducts, whose distinctive properties aremainly duetothelocation
orregion where theyareproduced;
(b) thename ofaproduct which hasbecome generally known through longtermuseinthecourse
oftrade asanindication thattheproduct originates from acertain location orregion.
Anappellation oforigin isacollective rightandmaybeusedassuchonlybythose whoproduce or
market theproduct forwhich anappellation oforigin hasbeenestablished.
(5) Right toIndustrial Property
1. Therighttoindustrial property belongs totheinventor orhissuccessor intitle.Jointinventors,
unless theyagree otherwise, haveequal rights.
2. Where twoormore applications havebeenfiledbydifferent persons inrespect ofthesame
inventions andtheinventors concerned made theinvention independently ofeachother, therightto
industrial property forthatinvention shallbelong totheapplicant whose application hastheearliest
filing date, orwhere priority isclaimed, theearliest priority date, aslongashisapplication isnow
withdrawn orabandoned, considered tobewithdrawn orabandoned, orrejected.
Also, theLawprovides therightof"licence contract", which means anycontract bywhich
aparty"thelicensor" gives totheotherparty"thelicensee" hisagreement forthatotherpartytoperform
intheRepublic ofAlbania alltheactsinrespect ofaninvention claimed inanindustrial property or
anindustrial property application.
Thelawprovides therightfortheowner andtheapplicant ofindustrial property toinstitute
proceedings intheCourt against anyperson whohasinfringed orisinfringing theindustrial property.
Theproceedings maynotbeinstituted afterfiveyears from theactofinfringement.
Natural orlegalpersons nothaving either aresidence ortheirprinciple place ofbusiness within
theRepublic ofAlbania shallberepresented byanAlbanian patent attorney registered intheAlbanian
Patent Office andshallactthrough himinallproceedings before thePatent Office.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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Protection ofinventions intheRepublic ofAlbania mayalsobeobtained byextending theeffects
ofEuropean patent applications andpatents. Thiswillbepossible aftersigning oftherespective
Agreement between theGovernment oftheRepublic ofAlbania andtheEuropean Patent Organization.
(6) Institutions
ThePatent Office oftheRepublic ofAlbania isalegal person under thesupervision ofthe
Albanian Committee forScience andTechnology. Thetasks ofthePatent Office aredetermined and
regulated bytheIndustrial Property LawandtheRegulations thereunder. ABoard ofAppeal is
established forthereview ofdisputes relating topatents, trademarks andindustrial designs within the
structure ofthePatent Office, which actsinaccordance withregulations adopted bytheCommittee
forScience andTechnology andtheMinistry ofJustice.
TheAlbanian Patent Office wasestablished inMarch 1993. Since thattime, thePatent Office
hasprepared theLaw"OnIndustrial Property", aswellasregulations anddecrees forimplementation
ofthelaw. ThePatent Office ismaking preparations forAlbania tobecome amember oftheParis
Convention, theMadrid Agreement andthePatent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
II. COPYRIGHT
Albania 'sCopyright Lawprotects literature, artistic andpublicistic works, andother works
aswellasanyoriginal intellectual work ofthiskind, suchas:
1. written works, including computer programs;
2. lessons, speeches, religious lessons andother works expressed orally;
3. musical works withorwithout accompanying text;
4. theatre ortheatre-musical works;
5. choreographic andpantomime works;
6. audiovisual works;
7. works offinearts: pictures, drawings, sculptures, lithography andcarvings;
8. architectural works;
9. photographic works;
10. applied artworks;
11. illustrations, maps, plans, sketches andthree-dimensional works inthegeographical,
topographical, architectural andscientific fields;
12. translations, adaptations, systematizations andother transformations ofworks andfolkloric
materials;
13. summaries ofworks andpopular expressions orencyclopedic andanthological dataandfacts,
aswellassources ofother original data.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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Such protection doesnotextend to:
(a) summariesandofficialnewspaperswithlegislativeandadministrativecharacter,andtheirofficial
translations;
(b) popular expressions;
(c) daily news;
(d) simple factsanddata.
Moral rights ofauthors
Anauthor hastheright:
1. tohaveauthority overhiswork, especially therighttohavehisname written inthecopies
ofthework;
2. tobeanonymous ortouseapseudonym;
3. tochallenge anykindofdistortion, removing orchanging ofhiswork, oranyother actthat
would infringe onhisname orhonour;
4. tochallenge common copyright claims.
Economic rights ofauthors
Anauthor hastheexclusive rightregarding hiswork toallow:
1. reproducing; inlimited circumstances anauthor 'sworkmaybereproduced without permission,
suchasinthefollowing cases: (a)forschool lessons (theauthor 'sname must becited);
(b)quotations inotherworks (with citation); (c)foruseinpublic libraries (1copyperlibrary).
2. importing forpublic distribution;
3. translating;
4. preparation ofadaptations, systematizations andtransformations;
5. showing ofhiswork before thepublic;
6. transmission andretransmissions;
7. transmission viacable orother means.
Terms ofprotection
Moral rights arepermanent.
Economic rights areeffective during theauthor 'slifeandfor50years afterhisdeath.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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Moral andeconomic rights regarding anonymous work, orawork under apseudonym, areeffective
for50years from thefirstdayofitspublication.
Moral andeconomic rights regarding photographic oraudiovisual works areeffective for50years
from thedayoftheirproduction.
Moral andeconomic rights regarding anapplied artwork lastfor25years from theproduction day.
Copyright lawprovides therightforanauthor topasshis/her economic andmoral rights toanother
person bylegalinheritance dispositions ortestaments andalsotherighttogivealicence toanother
person tousetheeconomic rights.
Thelawprovides therightforanauthor toinstitute proceedings intheCourt against anyperson who
hasinfringed orisinfringing hisrights.
According tothecopyright law,authors canexercise theircopyrights bythemselves orthrough the
Albanian national agency ALBAUTOR. ALBAUTOR isanAlbanian juridical person; itsactivities
arebased onthecopyright lawandother acts. Itsinternal regulations areapproved bytheMinister
ofCulture, Youth andSports. ALBAUTOR isamember oftheInternational Authors andComposers
Confederation (CISAK). Albania isamember ofOMIT, andisasignatory totheGeneva andBern
Conventions.WT/ACC/ALB/2
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TRADE RELATED INVESTMENT MEASURES (TRIMS)
INFORMATION ONALBANIAN INVESTMENT RÉGIME
1. Albania doesnotmaintain orapply trade-related investment measures (TRIMs).
2. ReferringtotheAnnextotheAgreementonTradeRelatedInvestmentMeasures,andspecifically
totheexamples ofTRIMs given inparagraphs 1and2oftheAnnex, Albania doesnotmaintain or
apply TRIMs thatareinconsistent withtheobligation ofnational treatment provided forinparagraph 4
ofArticleIIIofGATT1994,ortheobligationofgeneraleliminationofquantitativerestrictionsprovided
forinparagraph 1ofArticle XIofGATT 1994.
3. Inrecent years, Albania hastaken significant stepstocreate anopeninvestment régime. The
basis ofthatrégime isLaw number 7764 "On Foreign Investment" which waspassed on
2November 1993. Thislawprovides for:
- national treatment;
- investment without prior government authorization orcase-by-case approval;
- guaranteed repatriation ofprofits andcapital;
- security against nationalization, expropriation orother actions withequal effects;
- international dispute settlement.
4. Theonlyexception tonational treatment concerns landownership. Foreign investors may
leaselandfor99years butmaynotownland. Nosector oftheeconomy isclosed toforeign investment
except forsectors subject toanational monopoly (e.g., insurance andradioandtelevision broadcasting).