Trademark registration in Romania. Romania is a country at the confluence of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Romania is a developing country, with a high-income economy, ranking 49th in the Human Development Index. It has the world’s 45th largest economy by nominal GDP. Romania experienced rapid economic growth in the early 2000s; its economy is now based predominantly on services. It is a producer and net exporter of machines and electric energy through companies such as Automobile Dacia and OMV Petrom. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of trademark registration in Romania.
Trademark in Romania
Marks that are registrable as a trademark in Romania can be any words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, figurative elements, three-dimensional shapes, and the shape of goods or packaging thereof, colors, combinations of colors, holograms, acoustic signals, as well as any combination thereof.
In some exceptional cases, the trademark owner doesn’t need to file for trademark registration in Romania, specifically the cases of:
- Marks covered by other IP rights;
- Well-known trademarks.
As in many other countries’ regulations on well-known trademarks, a well-known trademark in Romania must be widely known in this country among the relevant segment of consumers of the goods or services to which the trademark is applied.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Romania
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Romania include:
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, address, nationality, etc.);
- List of goods and/or services along with the Nice Classification;
- Trademark model;
- Power of attorney (POA);
- Priority documents (If any);
- Other required documents.
The procedure of trademark registration in Romania
To obtain trademark protection in Romania, the applicant needs to submit their trademark application to the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (SOIT).
After receiving the trademark application, the examiner at the SOIT will examine the targeted mark of the application to check if the mark has complied with the regulations of the law.
If there are no errors found and the fees are paid in full, the trademark application will be published in the e-bulletin within 7 days from the filing date.
After the publication of the application, the SOIT will carry out a substantive examination of the trademark application within six months of its first publication date.
The opposition of the trademark in Romania
During the 2 months period after the publication of the trademark in Romania, any third parties may file for the opposition of the registration of the trademark in Romania.
The opposition case is examined by a SOIT committee. The SOIT will issue a notice of acceptance or refusal that is binding to the substantive examination of the application.
The protection period of a trademark in Romania
After registration, a trademark will be protected for 10 years in Romania from the filing date. Every 10 years, the trademark owner may file for renewal of the trademark registration to extend the protection period for another 10 years.
Different from other countries, the renewal request in Romania may be filed 3 months before the deadline or 6 months after the deadline upon payment of a late filing fee.
Notes when filing for trademark registration in Romania
Romania is a member of the European Union. Accordingly, the applicant can file a European Union Trademarks (EUTM) which grants protection in the whole European Union, including Romania.
Romania is also a member state of the Madrid Protocol. Accordingly, the applicant can file for trademark registration through the Madrid System to obtain trademark protection in Romania, as well as other countries in the Madrid System.
Use requirement of a trademark in Romania
A trademark doesn’t need to be in use in Romania for the applicant to file for its registration. However, it must not go unused for periods of more than 5 years or it will become vulnerable to cancelation actions for lack of use. The amount of use necessary is minimal.
IP treaties that Romania is a member of:
Romania is a party to the following international trademark treaties:
- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property;
- The World Intellectual Property Organisation Convention;
- The Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Marks;
- The Madrid Protocol;
- The Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services;
- The Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks; and
- The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
You can see a list of Romania IP firms here.