100th Anniversary of Intellectual Property Office
The Intellectual Property Office celebrates this year 100 years of its existence. By the decree of the heir to the throne Alexander I Karađorđević on November 15, 1920, the Administration for the Protection of Industrial Property was established as the first government body whose basic competence was to deal with the protection of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. In November 1920, Janko Šuman, Ph.D of Laws, born in Maribor on December 20, 1867, was appointed the first President of the Administration for the Protection of Industrial Property. While at the head of the Administration, Dr. Šuman laid the foundations for the protection of intellectual property in the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Janko Šuman is the creator of our first Law on Unfair Competition from 1930 and one of the authors of our first Copyright Law from 1929.