On October 7, 2022, amendments to Government Decision No. 1134/2010 authorizing the Implementing Regulations of the Law on Trademarks and Geographical Indications came into effect in Romania.
The goals of the amendments are to bring the Implementing Regulations’ provisions into compliance with the July 2020-amended trademark legislation. By September 13, 2020, the Implementing Regulations were intended to be updated, but it took a further two years for that to happen due to the conflict between the new legislation and the old Implementing Regulations. The necessary amendments are described below.
The new regulations specifically state that a Power of Attorney (PoA) shall specify the mandate’s scope, the date it was issued, and its term; the prior regulations did not include these criteria. The time limit for submitting the following POA in relation to trademark applications or proceedings involving registered trademarks has been increased from 30 days to two months from the filing date. In these situations, the new laws make it clear that if a PoA is missing, the applicant or trademark owner would be included in the proceedings; this was not addressed by the prior regulations.
In accordance with the amended regulations, applicants for sound, motion, hologram, or multimedia trademarks may now upload audio or video files. The elimination of the requirement for graphic representation has made this clause more consistent.
The applicant may include a declaration and supporting documentation with their trademark application claiming the brand become distinctive via usage. This option was not included in the earlier regulations.
The fundamental requirements for submitting a formal objection are made clear by the new regulations. The opposition notice must include the following information about the prior right being invoked as a minimum requirement, which is a significant change from the prior provisions: the opposition notice must include the trademark registration number, filing date, and, if applicable, the registration date and priority date. Within two months of the opposition’s filing, the PoA may be submitted. The regulations also provide that the opponent is given 30 days to register a response after receiving the observations the applicant submitted in response to the opposition.
According to the new regulations, third-party observations filed are disclosed to the applicant so they can respond throughout the inspection process.
The trademark owner is given 30 days, as opposed to the prior three months, to fix any faults in a renewal request.
To demonstrate these modifications, supporting documents must now be certified true copies. Previously, any sort of transfer of rights required the submission of original documents or legalized copies.
To demonstrate these modifications, supporting papers must be certified as genuine copies. There were no formalities-related provisions in the earlier regulations.
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