An application for the registration of a trademark, industrial design and patent in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be submitted by any domestic or foreign person. Regarding the protection of intellectual property rights, foreign persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina have the same rights as domestic persons, if there is a principle of reciprocity or international treaties or conventions to which Bosnia and Herzegovina has acceded or ratified them.

In order for foreign natural and legal entities to be able to submit the aforementioned applications, the law stipulates that they must have a representative. However, representatives in the mentioned procedures can only be the local natural and legal persons who are registered in a specific register of representatives. The Institute for Intellectual Property is the only state organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina authorized for the protection of intellectual property, which maintains register of the authorised representatives in electronic form.

There is an exception in the procedure for protecting inventions by patent and consensual patent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Foreign persons can independently file patent applications without a representative, undertake acts related to the accordance of the filing date of a patent application, file copies of the first patent application for the right of priority, to receive notifications communicated by the Institute and pay taxes and special procedural charges in the acquisition procedure and maintenance of rights. In that case, the foreign physical and legal entity must communicate to the Institute the address from Bosnia and Herzegovina for correspondence.

If the foreign person does not appoint a representative or does not communicate to the Institute the address for correspondence, the Institute shall invite him in writing through the diplomatic and consular representation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to appoint a representative or communicate the address for correspondence within three months. By not acting on the invitation of the Institute, the Institute shall reject his submission by conclusion and deliver it by means of a public announcement on its bulletin board.

Our company Pro-Patent d.o.o. Sarajevo deals with the protection of intellectual property in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at international institutions. The company has legal representatives fully certified by the Institute for Intellectual Property since the year 2006, same as certified by the World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO.