Doing Business with Romania - Über die Osec

o The procedure for registering patents with OSIM, as well as the rights and obligations
deriving from these patents are governed by Law no. 64/1991.
o Romania is a party to the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property,
ratifying all its amendments, and of the 1973 European Patent Convention.
Law enforcement
o Infringing the rights triggers either civil or criminal liability.
Duration of the protection
o Patents have a 20-year validity from the date of filing the application for registration; not
renewable.
o Law no. 255/1998 enacts a special legal regime for the protection of plant species, also
based on a patent certificate. The term of protection of the variety is 25 years from the date of
patent. For species of fruit trees, wines and ornamental forest trees the term of the variety
patent is 30 years from the granting of the protection.
� Trademarks
Nature of the right
o A trademark is a sign susceptible of graphic representation which serves to distinguish the
goods or services of a natural or legal person from those belonging to other persons. The
trademark holder has the right to:
• use the trademark during the course of its business;
• prevent others from using the trademark;
• prevent others from registering a similar or identical trademark;
• sell or license the trademark.
Protection
o The right to a mark shall be acquired and protected by registration with the State Office for
Inventions and Trademarks.
o Trademarks framework and protection are regulated under Law no. 84/1998, which details
the procedure for registering trademarks with OSIM, the priority rights recognized and the
rights and obligations deriving from trademark protection.
o Romania is a signatory party to the 1894 Madrid Agreement on International Registration of
Trademarks and a party to the Community Trademark System administered by the Office for
Harmonization in the Internal Market.
Law enforcement
o Infringing the rights triggers either civil or criminal liability.
Duration of the protection
o The registration of a mark shall take effect on the date of the regular national filing of the
mark and shall subsist for ten years.
o At the request of the owner, the registration of a mark may be renewed at the end of each
ten-year period on payment of the prescribed fee.
o The request for renewal of a registration may be made before expiry of the current term of
protection, but three months at the earliest prior to expiry of that term.
o Renewal of a registration shall take effect as from the day immediately following the expiry of
the current term of protection.
Main regulations (Law, Government Decision)
o Patent Law no. 64/1991;
o Government Decision no. 499/2003 for the approval of the Law no. 64/1991;
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