Protection of intellectual and industrial property rights

08.02.2013 ZF English

Romania is a signatory to international conventions on intellectual and industrial property rights. The EU Accession Treaty lays down specific provisions that reaffirm Romania's commitment to internationally agreed rules in this field.

Copyright

Romania is a member of the Bern Convention on Copyrights. The Romanian copyright framework is governed by Law 8/1996. These regulations ensure a uniform framework for copyright and related rights, laying down certain limits in the application of protective measures.

Law 8/1996 has undergone significant amendments in recent years, further to which the legal framework has been restructured and redefined. Several issues have been addressed, such as rights of database creators, technical measures for protecting the rights recognized under the Law as well as measures to combat the manufacture, import, or distribution of pirated merchandise.

Law 8/1996 governs copyright issues relating to literary, artistic, scientific or other similar works, including software, scientific projects and documentation, audiovisual works, architecture, graphic and plastic art works, digital art works, etc.

Copyright is assigned to the author of a work and involves moral and patrimonial rights, with copyright protection taking effect as from the creation of the work. The patrimonial rights related to copyright last for as long as the author lives and, generally, after the author's death they are transmitted to his/her heirs for an additional 70-year period. The New Civil Procedure Code, in effect since 15 February 2013, has amended several procedural aspects.

Patents

Romania is a party to the 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, having ratified all the amendments, and to the 1973 European Patent Convention. In order for an invention to benefit from legal protection, the inventor must obtain a patent certificate, issued by the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM). The procedure for registering patents with OSIM, as well as the rights and obligations deriving from these patents are governed by Law 64/1991.

Patents have a 20-year validity. Law 255/1998 provides a special legal framework for the protection of plant species, also based on a patent certificate. Certain procedural aspects have been amended through the adoption of the New Civil Procedure Code.

Utility models

The legal framework governing the protection of industrial property has been supplemented, with the introduction under Law no. 350/2007 of a new tool intended to ensure the protection of inventions, i.e. the utility model.

The utility model ensures the protection of technical inventions only, and only products benefit from such protection. Therefore, inventions consisting of procedures or methods are not covered. According to Art. 7 of Law no. 350/2007, a utility model can be protected for a maximum of 10 years consisting of a first 6-year term followed by renewal of protection for at most two consecutive 2-year terms. Several procedural aspects have been amended by the New Civil Procedure Code.

Trademarks

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. Trademarks and their protection are regulated under Law 84/1998, which sets out the procedure for registering trademarks with OSIM, the priority rights recognized and the rights and obligations deriving from trademark protection.

Such protection can also apply to international trademarks registered under the Madrid Protocol and the Madrid Arrangement. Likewise, trademarks registered in Romania may benefit from international and EU protection.

A trademark is generally protected for 10 years, and its validity may be subsequently extended for equal periods of time. Some procedural aspects have been amended under the New Civil Procedure Code

Drawings and models

The protection of drawings and models in Romania is governed by Law 129/1992, which has undergone significant amendments, especially with regard to certain procedural aspects, (e.g. procedural time limits or examination procedure). This Law transposes the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) no. 6/2002 on Community designs, thus ensuring their protection in Romania. Under the new regulations, community protection of a design / model can be obtained via the filing of an application directly with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market or via OSIM.

Drawings and models are protected for 10 years from the registration date. The term may be extended for three consecutive 5-year periods. The registration of drawings and industrial models is similar to the registration procedure provided in respect of trademarks.  The New Civil Procedure Code has introduced certain procedural amendments.

 

Source: KPMG - Investment in Romania report (May 2013)