Romania is one of the founding members of the Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property. Our country is also a contracting party of the Madrid and Hague Systems governed by WIPO. Since March 1, 2003 Romania is a contracting state of the European Patent Organization (EPO) and after joining the European Union on January 1, 2007 our country is a member of the European Trademark & Design area. The Romanian Office for Inventions and Trademarks (ROIT) is the national authority that provides protection for the Romanian IP Rights: patents, utility models, supplementary certificates of protection, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.

Patent

Patent protection in Romania may be obtained by choosing one of the three existing ways of filing, namely: direct national filing before the ROIT, filing an European Patent before the European Patent Organization with the designation of Romania followed by the validation of the granted European Patent in our country and filing under the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) followed by the opening of the national phase in Romania.

A patent is granted for inventions in any field of technology provided these are new, involve an inventive step and have industrial applicability. The Patent Examination Commission inside ROIT decides the grant or rejection of the patent application based on the examination report.

The period of protection for one patent is 20 years with the payment of the yearly maintenance fees.

Utility models are granted protection in Romania since 2008. Any technical invention may be protected by utility model provided it is new, it is beyond the mere professional skills and has industrial applicability. No substantive examination is performed by the ROIT and the exercise of the exclusive rights is made by the owner on its own responsibility. The period of protection for one utility model is of 6 years with the possibility of two consecutive renewals of 2 years each leading to a total period of protection of 10 years.

Trademark

Any natural or legal person may apply for a trademark application in Romania. Trademark protection may be obtained by choosing one of the three ways of filing: filing a national application before ROIT, filing an international application through the Madrid System and designating Romania or filing a direct EUTM application with the European Trademark Office (EUIPO).

General rules for obtaining trademark protection are applicable. The nature of the requested goods does not represent an obstacle to the registration of the mark. Class headings are accepted to registration. The grace period for non-use of one registered trademark is of 5 years. The period of protection of one trademark registration is of 10 years. A renewal request may be filed within 3 months prior to the date of expiration and within 6 months after the date of expiration with a 50% increase of the official fees.

The Romanian Trademark Law amended and republished in 2010 brought important changes to the trademark registration procedure. The legal period for the registration of a trademark application from filing until the receipt of the registration decision is of 6 months. Any ex-officio refusals or oppositions expand this period.

The most important amendment with respect to the examination proceeding is the ex-officio examination based only on absolute grounds of refusal while the relative grounds may be invoked by third parties by means of an opposition. Upon the payment of the filing and publication fees a trademark application is published online within maximum 7 days as of the date of filing in view of the filing of oppositions. The opposition deadline is 2 months as of the date of publication of the trademark application. Upon the payment of the examination fee due within maximum 3 months as of the date of filing of the application the examination on absolute grounds is performed by the office examiner in charge of the file. In case of oppositions, these are examined at the same time by the Opposition Commission which is formed by 3 members including the office examiner in charge of the file. A decision of granting protection or rejection of the trademark based on absolute and/or relative grounds of refusal is issued as a result of the examination procedure.

Industrial Design

Design protection in Romania may be obtained either by filing a national application before the national office or filing an international application through the Hague System within WIPO and designating Romania as a contracting state or filing a direct RCD application with EUIPO.

The industrial designs national legislation was amended in 2007. The appearance of a product or of a part thereof, in two or three dimensions, resulting from the combination of the main features, particularly lines, outlines, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation is protectable provided it is new and has individual character.

A multiple deposit is registrable and may include a maximum number of 100 designs of the same kind or intended to be incorporated in the same category of products.

National design applications are subject to ex-officio substantive examination as opposed to the RCDs which are granted without any examination subject to the opposition of third parties.

Exclusive rights on an industrial design are granted for a period of 10 years with the possibility of 3 consecutive renewals of 5 years each leading to a total protection period of 25 years.

Provided by Nicoleta Anghelescu, IP Attorney at Cabinet Enpora IP