TIRANA, July 11- Patent registration as a form to protect the right of ownership has become more apparent year after year. The official records of the General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP) confirm that in 2018 the patent applications were 13.2 percent higher than a year earlier. Thus, the GDIP Patent Sector received 921 patent applications last year, compared to 813 applications filed in 2017.
Of these applications, 15 applications are national applications with Albanian citizen applicants, and 906 patent applications are patents issued by the European Patent Office seeking protection in Albania. One important element is the increased interest of European patent holders in registering them in our country. The number of European patents seeking protection in our country has doubled compared to 2015.
The same institution reports that in 2018 the patent sector issued 4710 administrative acts within the deadlines provided by law and patent regulation. “3338 patents have been renewed and 89 patents have been changed in the register,” the DPPI document writes.
The General Directorate of Industrial Property reported that the number of national and international applications for brands during 2018 has reached a number of 4171 applications. “There is generally a growing trend of brand applications, especially of Albanian applications. The essential function of a trademark is to exclusively identify the source of trade or origin of products or services. During 2018, the GDIP received 1294 applications in total, compared to 1161 applications received in 2017, increasing their number by 10.3 percent,” is written in the document.
According to the GDIP, In 2018 the number of trademark applications has increased by 24.4 percent compared to 2017. Regarding the country of origin, it is noted that from the total number of national applications for brands in 2018, the United States, followed by Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Serbia and Kosovo, have the largest number of national applications in the Republic of Albania.
