The countries where Tana Patents d.o.o. operates are Croatia, BiH, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro.
To provide for all of our regional partners, we have selected top experts as representatives of local offices for intellectual property. Our way of doing business is such that we can offer our clients a complete service when it comes to managing their intellectual property portfolio, as well as adequate expert advice, Ivka Barić, Director of Tana Patents d.o.o, speaks for Diplomacy&Commerce.
- You are at the head of a company that has been operating for 25 years and is extremely important for business in general. What exactly does Tana Patents do and what business segments does it cover? What exactly do you offer your clients?
Tana Patents d.o.o. (www.tana.hr) is a leading company in the region (Croatia, BiH, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro) for mediation in the protection of intellectual property (patent and trademark protection). We mainly provide intellectual property protection services for large multinational foreign companies, predominantly from the pharmaceutical, IT and technology sectors. We try to have our services always meet the highest standards, therefore we continuously improve our business operations and invest in the education of our employees and in new technologies. For example, we certified Tanu Patents d.o.o. with both ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001 certificates, which was a rather long and expensive process. However, this definitely paid off for us in the long run because our clients are also aware that we maintain a high standard of service. In this particular case, investing in ISO certificates brought us new clients as well as a considerable amount of new business, so that type of investment definitely paid off for us. Croatian Copyright Agency – CIV d.o.o. (www.haa.hr) and Hraste & Partneri Law Firm d.o.o. (www.hraste-partneri.hr) are also registered at our business address in Zagreb, Ribnjak 40, and we have very close cooperation with them, so this way we can cover a very wide range of services and operate as a one-stop shop. We also have an excellent network of external associates in regards to accounting and tax issues.
- You also do business in the region. In which countries and what is the difference between the markets and doing business in these markets?
As I mentioned earlier, we cover the entire region. Of course, there are certain peculiarities related to each country, however, work related to the protection of intellectual property is rather standardized internationally, so it is not a problem for us to maintain the same high standard of our services in all these countries. In addition, we also represent our clients before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- What would you single out as the most important segment of your business?
The most important segment is certainly the constant improvement and the high level of quality of operations. Namely, in our type of work, precision and accuracy are extremely important, and we can never allow ourselves, for example, to miss a deadline or lose some documentation. Also, all the data we handle is strictly confidential, so we invest a lot in security technologies and data protection. At the same time, we are working towards making our business as green as possible and we are moving towards a paper-free office to the greatest extent possible. Furthermore, our employees also have the option of working remotely. Also, as I already mentioned, as of 2020 Tana Patents d.o.o. is ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001 certified, which we are extremely proud of, and which our foreign clients also highly appreciate.
- How important is and what is the nature of your cooperation with decision-makers and legislators? In which segment are they important for your business?
This item is certainly important to us, considering the fact that a great majority of our business operations takes place precisely before administrative and judicial bodies. Monitoring legal regulations is part of our business routine, and we are always actively involved when it comes to proposals and changes to all laws that are directly related to all the services we provide.
- How would you rate the business climate in Croatia and what should be changed or improved, in your opinion, in order to improve the business operations?
The business climate in Croatia, just like everywhere else worldwide, certainly has its challenges. However, the opportunities are always there for people who are prepared to work and who do their job dutifully and responsibly. It would certainly be easier for us to do business if the state administration was accelerated, and if certain processes would be simplified and prices reduced. However, as a country, we are definitely headed in the right direction.
- What are Tana Patents’ plans for the upcoming period?
We will certainly continue to work on professional and technological improvement and strive to continuously raise the standard of our business year after year. Also, the sectors we mainly cover – pharmaceutical, IT and technology – record constant growth, which is extremely favorable for us. In any case, we are very optimistic about the future because I think that over the last 25 years of doing business we have built an excellent brand that our clients can easily recognize as a synonym for reliability and quality. Although the current global political situation is quite uncertain and challenging, history has taught us that like all crises up to now, this one too shall pass. Unfortunately, we cannot influence global politics, but we can keep a cool head while we wait for this cycle to end.