A Brief History of Industrial Property in Albania

Industrial Property in Albania can trace its beginnings to as early as the year 1920.  From archival sources of the time, we learn that Albanian traders were extremely sensitive to keeping their products safe from counterfeiters.  In order to accomplish this, they should the protection of their products by means of trademark registration.  The first registration certificate is dated 16 April 1920. There are archival sources that enable us to learn that Albania can be listed in a worthy fashion among the countries of the region, and more broadly, as a country where trademarks and the importance of protecting them do not start recently but go back as far as the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

The system just mentioned above was effective until 1944. In 1957, the Government of the time issued a decision recognizing the registration of foreign trademarks in Albania.    In that year, the Chamber of Commerce completed the formalities and respective documentation for the registration of foreign trademarks in Albania on the basis of the legal provisions in force, specifically Decree no. 2490 dated 22 July 1957 (amended by Decrees No. 3530 dated 2 July 1962 and No. 4253 dated 11 April 1967) “On Marks of Production and Trade”.

By Council of Ministers decision no. 135 dated 22 March 1993, the Office of Patents was created under the Committee of Science and Technology for the registration and protection of Patents Of Inventions, Trade Marks, Industrial Designs, and Appellations of Origin.

On April 1994, Law no. 7819 “On Industrial Property” was approved (Law or Industrial Property Law), with the object of assuring that the rights of Industrial Property were granted and protected for the following objects:  Inventions and utility models, trademarks and service marks, industrial designs and appellations of origin.

Further, in the year 2000, the activity of the Directorate of Patents and Trademarks began, as a public institution of central government under the Council of Ministers, through Council of Ministers decision no. 313dated 13 June 2000 “On the functioning of the Albanian Patents and Trademarks Office”.

Currently, from the Law No. 9525, Dt.25.04.2006 the Albanian Patents and Trademarks Office is a public institution under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy of the Republic of Albania. Structure and organization chart of Albanian Patents and Trademarks Office is defined by Prime Minister Decree no.126, Dt. 03.08.2007. The activity of the ALPTO is defined and regulated by means of the Industrial Property Law, the rules for objects of Industrial Property, the rules of its functioning, and decisions of the Council of Ministers.  The Albanian Patents and Trademarks Office is the institution through which the Albanian state grants and administers the right of property over inventions, utility models, commercial trade-marks and service marks, industrial designs and geographical indications.