The former Intellectual Property Law was passed on November 29, 2005 and came into force on July 1, 2006. It was amended by the afore-mentioned new Law on Intellectual Property, 2009.
The former law was considered a great advance for the protection of the intellectual property, but also for complying with the requirements to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Before this law, the intellectual property regulations were scattered in about forty legal documents, which were not always consistent with the WTO requirements or even with each other.
The Intellectual Property Law, 2005, allowed thus to have one clear law on the subject, explaining its extent and namely the applicable subjects and the protected objects. The law protected three major rights: the copyrights and related rights; the industrial property rights; the rights in plant varieties.
