Romania (RO)
Apr 04, 2019IP Office Will Not Accept Merger Request of Intl. RegistrationRomania has notified WIPO in accordance with new Rule 27ter(2)(b) of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol Relating to that Agreement (the Common Regulations), which entered into force on February 1, 2019.
In the said notification, the IP Office has declared that its law does not provide for the merger of registrations of a mark and that, as a result, its Office will not present to the International Bureau of WIPO requests for the merger of international registrations resulting from division under new Rule 27ter(2)(a).
For further information, please click hereSource: www.wipo.int Apr 11, 2018 (Newsletter Issue 7/18)New Trademark Law DraftedOn January 12, 2018, the Romanian PTO published the first draft of the new trademark law, aimed at transposing the Directive (EU) 2015/2436 into national legislation. The most important changes are listed below.
Absolute Grounds for Refusal or Invalidity
The draft law extends the absolute grounds for trademark refusal or invalidity by adding the words “or another characteristic” to the relevant article in the law, meaning that now the restrictions apply not only to shape signs but to other types of signs as well. Namely, according to the draft law, signs can be refused if they consist exclusively of the shape, or another characteristic, which (i) results from the nature of the goods themselves, (ii) is necessary to obtain a technical result, or (iii) gives substantial value to the goods.
Earlier Rights
The draft law widens the scope of earlier rights to include traditional terms, guaranteed traditional specialties and plant variety rights, along with the already covered designations of origin and geographical indications.
Trademark Infringement
The draft law broadens the concept of trademark infringement by establishing additional uses of a similar or identical sign that may be prohibited by the trademark owner and are not specified in the current trademark law, namely:
- Use of a sign as a company name or as part of a company name (however, the draft law does not clarify, like Directive (EU) 2015/2436 does, that in order to be prohibited, such use has to be made for the purposes of distinguishing goods or services);
- Use of a sign in comparative advertising in a way contrary to the provisions of the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Act No. 158/2008; and
- Use of a sign on packaging, labels, tags, security or authenticity features or devices, and placing these on the market.
Further changes concern the goods in transit and the revocation and declaration of invalidity.
For more information, please see here Mrz 31, 2015 (Newsletter Issue 5/15)
Increase of Fees Suspended
Law no. 31/2015 for suspension of the provisions of art. 4 of Government Ordinance no. 41/1998 on the protection of industrial property fees and the use thereof was published in Official Gazette of Romania, Part 1, no. 169 dated March 11, 2015.
The normative act suspends, until the 31th of December 2016, the appliance of the provisions of the Government Ordinance no 41/1998 on upgrading the official fees in lei owed by natural and legal persons in the field of industrial property protection.
Nicolae Muresan, Andra Musatescu Law & Industrial Property Offices, Bucharest
Sep 02, 2014 (Newsletter Issue 13/14)
Expedited Examination of Trademark Applications Cancelled
The expedited examination of national trademark applications and the corresponding official fee were abrogated on 26 May 2014.
The standard examination timeframe is six months from the date the application is published for opposition and observation purposes. The timeframe for expedited examination was three months from the mentioned publication date.
Source: www.petosevic.com
Dez 03, 2013 (Newsletter Issue 17/13)
E-Filing Soon
The Romanian PTO is planning to introduce electronic filing of trademark applications via its website by the end of 2013 or in early 2014. The electronic filing system for designs is expected to follow in 2014.
The PTO also improves its online databases and search tools in order to enable better, easier access to trademark and design registrations databases.
Source: www.petosevic.com
Sep 02, 2012 (Newsletter Issue 13/12)New Instructions for ExaminationsRomania’s PTO has issued new instructions for the examination of trademarks and geographical indications, in effect as of August 1, 2012.
The new instructions aim to optimize the workflow within the PTO and ensure a fast and efficient examination procedure.
Some of the changes are:
- All requests concerning new trademark and GI applications or existing registrations are to be processed immediately upon receipt.
- With regard to trademarks, the PTO will conduct an examination as to relative grounds for refusal (search for prior identical or confusingly similar trademarks). However, it is still unclear, whether earlier rights could be cited to refuse a trademark on the basis that it does not meet the general conditions for registration set forth in the law. Clarifications from the PTO regarding this are expected shortly.
- PTO provisions on the examination of trademarks will closely follow OHIM’s examination manual.
- PTO will analyze oppositions and/or observations requests without taking into consideration whether the examination fees for the application against which the opposition is filed, are paid.
- Expedite examination of trademarks must be requested when filing the application form. The fee for expedite examintation must be paid when filing the trademark application.
- In case of multiple oppositions they are analyzed and decided upon in chronological order.
- Minor changes will be made to the trademark application form.
For further information please also check the article of Ms Aura Campeanu here
Source: www.petosevic.com Mai 03, 2010 (Newsletter Issue 10/10)New IP Laws EffectiveThe Law 66/2010 amended the current Romanian Law on Trademarks and Geographical Indications and entered into force in Romania on May 09, 2010. The new law introduces important changes in terminology, improved registration procedure for national applications, and it ensures the existence of a legal framework for the prosecution of European Union community trademarks.
For more information please click hereSource: www.petosevic.com Legal basis is the Law 84/1998 on Trademarks and Geographical Indications, as republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, part I, no. 337 of May 08, 2014.
Romania is a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration. It can also be acquired by wide public recognition (well-known trade marks).
Nice classification, 11th edition
Trademarks may consist of any distinctive signs capable of graphic representation such as words including names, drawings, letters, numerals, devices, holograms, colours per se or combination thereof, three-dimensional shapes, and in particular the shape of a product or its packaging, acoustical sounds or any combination of the listed above provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
The following trademark types are registrable: trade marks, service marks, collective marks, certification marks.
The application is filed with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
Multiple-class applications are possible.
Foreign applicants only need a local agent if the foreign person is not from the EU or the European Economic Area. Foreigners from the EU or EEA can act before the Romanian Patent Office directly only for filing of a trademark application which must be in Romanian language.
A non-legalised power of attorney is sufficient but it must be sent in original.
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration.
The application process includes a formal examination and an examination of distinctiveness (absolute grounds). There is no examination on relative grounds according to the trademark law.
The processing time from first filing to registration or first office action is of approx. 6 to 12 months, if no office actions are issued and / or oppositions are filed.
Applications for which a decision of grant is made are recorded in the Registered Trade Mark Registry, subject to payment of the official fees for publication and certificate issue. Registered trademarks are published in the Official Bulletin for Industrial Property - Trade Mark section for appeal purposes.
National:The opposition period is 2 months as of the date of publication of the application.
Details regarding the
Opposition Period against designation of IR Mark are available in our publication on this topic
here
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from date of application.
The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.
"The request for renewal of a registration may be made before expiry of the current term of protection, but not earlier than 3 months prior to expiry of that term. (...) The fee for the renewal of a registration shall be due on the date of the request for renewal; the fee may be paid within 6 months following the expiry date of the current term of protection, on payment of the prescribed additional fee".
This national law provisions are completed with the provisions of Singapore treaty Art 13(1)(c) and Regulation of Implementing Singapore Treaty Rule 8, according that the renewal could be asked 6 months from expiration date with payment of official fee.
Further practical details are available in our publication on this topic
hereIf the trademark has not been used within a continuous period of 5 years from registration or during a continuous period of 5 years any time during the life of the registration, it may become subject to cancellation.
Further practical details are available in our publication on this topic
hereThe official fee (including the official fees for publication of the new tm application for opposition purposes) for the first class is EUR 150.00 for word marks, EUR 180.00 for black and white device marks and EUR 330.00 for colored marks. For each additional class, the fee is EUR 50.00. The fee for publication of the registration and for certificate issue is EUR 50.00.
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Practical details on licensing procedures, requirements and effectiveness are available in our publication on this topic
here.
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